Withered Black Flower
by Terrified of Logic
Summary: Sasuke comes back to Konoha, eager to take down everybody in his sight. His plan is destroyed when he's poisoned. Only Sakura can save him, but Tsunade has the same poison. Who will Sakura choose to save with one antidote? CONTINUED chapter 7 up soon
1. Chapter 1

**Withered Black Flower:**

By:**Terrified of Logic**  
Beta-ed by the ama-_zing_ **Kisa Kisa Yum Yum**  
With help from the awesome **KinkyK and JazzyJ**

* * *

"Destroy Konoha."

As if agreeing, the waves crashed against the slippery, craggy cliff. The three people behind stood, all saying nothing. Karin had her arms folded across her chest, Juugo and Suigetsu neither smiling or frowning. Neutral to whatever their leader said, awaiting his command. Perhaps it was out of loyalty- who were they kidding; they all knew how strong Uchiha's were. Sasuke was not an exception. The Uchiha clan had made its mark of being intimidating and it had stayed that way for centuries. Sasuke turned to face them, eyes closed and hand on the hilt of Kusanagi.

For one moment it was as if everything had stopped, frozen in time. In that instant a look of peace and serenity glided across Sasuke's features, but in that moment it came it had disappeared. His eyes flew open to appraise each and every member of the newly named 'Team Taka'. The atmosphere grew colder, and it wasn't the damp sea breeze. Karin felt her heart rate speed up, fear and wondrous rapture overtaking her as she gazed at Sasuke's eyes. Juugo and Suigetsu had tensed with looks of surprise and trepidation etched on their faces. Whether Sasuke knew it or not both his eyes had changed; a darker richer crimson than the normal Sharingan and with a very powerful looking design than the ordinary spinning tomoes. It was dark, sinister, seductive and beautiful- a killer. Karin gasped softly, mesmerized. If the others heard it they never acknowledged it.

"I feel... stronger." Sasuke whispered, still staring at his teammate through his new scarlet eyes. His grip on Kusanagi turned vice-like. "This is for you, Aniki."

* * *

"Tsunade sama," Sakura said softly, changing the flowers in the vase from daffodils to a pretty pink cosmos, on the bedside table laden with bottles of medicine. Sakura bit back tears as her gaze traveled back to her sensei's face. How could someone so strong and powerful in every way be brought down to her knees in the lowest manner?

Shishou lay still on the bed, breathing shallow but regulated. "Sakura." Tsunade's eyes were still closed but her voice was firm and curt, as if she was not at all affected by the poison which was slowly deteriorating her innards and worse.

_Amazing_, Sakura marveled. "Yes Shishou?"

"You know what you have to do. I cannot live much longer, a month tops. You will have to be in charge-"

"Shishou, please don't talk like that- I will find the antidote and-" Sakura started, words tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them.

"Sakura be quiet and let me finish." Sakura fell silent and bit her lip. However, her gloved hands clenched at her sides. She was not the second best medic nin in Konoha for nothing' she would find the antidote.

"When I leave, you are to take care of the hospital and patients. For the moment, you need to create a strategy to protect Konoha. Konoha is your home, protect it like your life."

Sakura couldn't help it, her eyes crinkled up and her lips curled into a pout; all this time she had tears running down her face though Shishou couldn't see it. But now as she hastily fisted the tears, wiping them, she couldn't help but let a sob escape through her lips. "Tsunade-sama!" Sakura hugged her mentor awkwardly, head on her chest, letting the salt water seep through the thin hospital gown. Tsunade-sama was like her second mother and sister. She had taken care of Sakura well, and had taught her so many things. She couldn't bear to think of Shishou dead.

"Sakura." This time it was soft and motherly, full of tenderness and warmth. "Get off me, you're crushing my chest cavity." But she smiled unseeingly at her student. She was always driven by emotion, the one key trait a Shinobi should not have. Sakura snuffled and mumbled an apology. She looked at the clock; it was about to strike eight pm. Her fist clenched even harder. It was almost time.

* * *

Seconds ticked by. The second hand was slow and it sounded so loud. The long thin metal rod blurred. One movement to the next, it was as if she was watching the clock drugged and unfocused.

_"Tsunade sama!" Shizune's urgent voice and the accompanied sound of her heels clicking on the wooden floors was heard before her face appeared in the Hokage's room._

_"What is it?" Tsunade asked, taking a sip from the choko ( the small cup used to drink sake out of) The small pig at Shizune's feet faced her master with a worried look and grunted._

_Without any haste, Shizune held out a scroll._

_Tsunade put down the cup and took the scroll from her. It was glowing with dark and purple chakra, crackling like electricity. Her gaze narrowed. It had a seal that prevented anyone else from opening it but her. But she frowned; whoever sent this must have had very strong intentions._

_Tsunade bit down on her thumb and blood bubbled to the surface from the small wound. One ruby droplet of blood fell from her thumb and landed on the scroll's seal. It shone brightly, but didn't allow her to open it just yet. Drawing the Konoha symbol in blood finally produced the desired result. The scroll transformed in a puff of smoke and lay on the desk, plain white with kanji written in beautiful calligraphy. Twisted lines formed sentences that depicted:_

**_Team Taka and Otokagakure formally declare war on Konohagakure.  
Under the influence of perfidy and betrayal.  
The attack will commence officially on the eighth day of the eight month, eight PM._**

_It was signed with the Uchiha crest._

_Tsunade read it silently. The moment she took her hand of the scroll it burst into flame. Ashes littered her desk and she swept them carelessly onto the floor. She stood up and faced the window. She touched her neck, where the crystal blue necklace should have been, but wasn't. It had been given to a young youth a long time ago._

_"Ne, Shizune... This time, when I bet, I really hope I lose..."_

* * *

Tsunade said nothing but her face pulled into a small frown. Sakura shook uncontrollably, hands gripping the window sill, staring out into the black of the night. Eight PM was drawing close. Seconds to spare.

Five

Four

Three...

Two...

One...

Sasuke...kun.

For a moment nothing happened. The calm dark village was tranquil, but almost exactly at that moment, the swell of fire rose, and shattered the protecting walls of Konoha. One by one the walls crashed down like dominoes. Sakura stared, tears cascading as she watched the village come to life. Shinobi prepared for the attack leapt from dark corners of the town, from across the roofs and through the streets. The spilled out of the Hokage tower, and as more villagers came to life, panic brewed, fresh as blood spilled from a gaping wound.

"Go...Sakura." Tsunade's voice echoed throughout the small room. Her voice was quiet and was tinged with fatigue.

"Shishou-"

"Go."

And Sakura left without another word. The corners of her lips turned downwards as she broke into a run. Too slow. Opening the closest window she perched on the sill. Summoning chakra to her feet she felt a burst of energy and she disappeared into the black, black night.

* * *

Wind whistled through her hair and she could hear it, loud and clear. Orange and red had lit the night sky. Sakura bit her lip as she pivoted off a chimney. Sasuke...kun. Where was he? Why was he doing this...No. Traitor, a disgrace to all Konoha Shinobi.

"Sakura-chan!" A fellow ninja was darting from roof to roof beside her, easily keeping up with her pace. Clad in an orange jumpsuit, his headband cloth was trailing behind him.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out, acknowledging him.

"We have to go find Sasuke!" he yelled back. He held two kunai in one hand and deftly threw one to her. She caught it like it was second nature and gripped it by her side.

"Naruto-baka! Is that all you can think about? Sasuke! We have to help our fellow shinobi!" 'We have to protect Konoha,' she added to herself, remembering Tsunade-sama. Sakura knew even though Naruto never said, he missed Sasuke. He was always volunteering to go on search missions that entailed his name and even making missions that were often disproved by the Hokage. But he never ever gave up.

"Sakura-chan! He is our teammate, our friend! We need to help him!" Naruto shouted back, irritation at her unwillingness to look for him evident in his voice. Sakura sighed, giving up; she knew there was no way to change her teammate's mind once it was set.  
She braced her feet apart and landed adjacent on a roof and her fingertips dug into the wood leaving dent marks. Without pausing during the entire action, she quickly propelled herself to where Naruto was leaping from and followed him, worried and scared.

They had crossed the smoking and destroyed stone walls of Konoha, and much to Sakura and Naruto's horror, the great Gate had been burnt down with Amaterasu. The one and only Gate that lead in and out of Konoha.

"Impossible," Naruto breathed as they flew into the forest, grasping and grabbing at every other branch. Sakura herself was melancholy; Konoha was being torn apart right before her eyes and she was doing nothing to save it, already disobeying Shishou in a matter of minutes. Tears threatened to fall again, but she set her features in a determined look. Even so, a lone tear slipped and was lost in the air as the body it was once held captive in was gone before it could break its shape. The tear could have been mistaken as a rain drop, falling silently to the forest floor, in a perfect sphere of liquid before it splashed all over a lush green leaf.

"Sakura-chan! I can sense his chakra! Thirty degrees north, seven-hundred and twenty-five meters from our left!" Naruto shouted fifty meters from where she was on her branch.

"Understood!" And she changed direction, her heart racing, not just because of the amount of energy she was exerting, but the fear of meeting a killer and the eagerness to kill him. Sasuke was no longer the stoic, brooding boy she once knew. He could care tenderly, though he rarely showed it to it anyone, but if he really did care he wouldn't be here to destroy everyone who brought him up and cared for him. He was going to kill. Hundreds of innocent people, children, infants. Sakura could not forgive that, no matter what. To destroy life that could bloom and blossom without a second thought was something that repulsed her to no end. This was not Sasuke...kun.

This was the devil.

* * *

But there he stood as attractive and statuesque as ever. His shirt was high-necked and his sleeves short, but the garment was completely unzipped to show his chest, billowing in the wind. Sakura couldn't help but notice just how much he had grown in five years. His body was of a man, his face was older than it should have been. But then again, it had always been that way. He had seen too much when he was little. Naivety and innocence was a gift he would never receive.

Sakura and Naruto dropped to the ground not ten meters away from their ex-teammate and immediately assumed a fighting stance. Sakura held her right hand out in front of her, left placed a couple centimeters back, while her legs braced themselves, finding a low center of gravity. She was ready to attack at any given notice. Perhaps even before the notice...

Naruto was the first to speak. He spoke as if there was no time lost between them, and it made Sakura's fist curl but she dare not speak in case she actually lost control of her rage. How could Naruto speak like this? How many nights did she cry over him? How many nights did Naruto go looking for him? Countless. Countless was the answer.

"Hey Sasuke-teme, you came back to Konoha then. It's good to have you back, friend," Naruto said cheerfully with a smile while scratching the back of his head.

"I haven't come back for you. I declared war on Konoha. Now get out of my way." Sasuke said coldly, wind whipping his hair. Sakura shivered' her red vest was not keeping the chill out.

"Na, Sasuke, don't speak like that-"

"I broke my bond with you a long time ago, Naruto. And I still won," Sasuke said a smirk curling his lip. All of a sudden Naruto's bright demeanor disappeared, his eyes narrowing. Sakura knew he didn't want to hurt him but there was no other way.

"Teme, you haven't broken any bond. Come back to Konoha quietly or-"

"Or what? You'll set pathetic Anbu on me?" Sasuke laughed derisively.

"No, I'll just have to kick your ass once more then, eh Teme? How do you like that?" Naruto yelled, cracking his knuckles.

"Yeah? As far as I know, I left you unconscious with a hole through your chest. Yeah, you really did 'kick my ass' as you say." The mocking reply bit back.

"So why did you come back?" Sakura finally spoke up, voice quiet with anger and saturated with hate. She trembled and the kunai in her hand was actually shaking with no control whatsoever.

"I come back to avenge Aniki. His death was a mistake." Neither shinobi could miss the slight sound of affection in the word 'Aniki'. Sakura's heart clenched. What happened between those two? How she had longed to hear that note of affection uttered in her name, from those very lips. But that dream was long gone five years ago.

"So get out of my way." Cold and indifferent once more.

"No!" Naruto yelled. His hands were quick, whipping around each other, creating a small gathering tornado of chakra in his palm. Blue and glowing, it just added to the brewing storm in the air.

"I'm going to bring you back once and for all Sasuke! I should have done this a long time ago. With both these bare hands, I swear I am going to drag you back to Konoha even if its the last thing I do!" With a animalistic roar, Naruto had leapt into the air, Rasengan completed in his right hand, and Sakura did nothing to stop him.

Summoning chakra to her fingers, she gripped the kunai and charged at Sasuke. She threw it whilst in mid air, side dodging him. She knew it would not reach him, but it would force him to move from his current position. Which was exactly what she wanted. Naruto caught the kunai between his teeth and aimed for Sasuke with the Rasengan. His opponent was quickly charging his sword with Chidori, a crackling chakra screaming like one thousand birds.

Sakura aimed rapid fire kicks and punches at the same time, but Sasuke was skilled enough to avoid both shinobi's advances.

Fist collided with fist, and more often than not her thrown punches made contact with air. Infuriating.

"Weak." One word to put her off balance. One single syllable. Rage consumed her body rapidly, boosting her adrenaline rush.

"I. Am. Not. WEAK!" Sakura screamed. A gloved fist infused with ten times the amount of chakra that Rasengan held slammed into the ground creating a fissure that expanded fifty meters in perimeter. All three shinobi leapt into the air to avoid the falling crumbling trees and earth.

Sakura smirked, she saw the look of surprise, no matter how quickly it disappeared, etched on Sasuke's face. She saw it and gleaned some satisfaction from it. Trees continued to fall down in a style of dominoes and splintering pieces of wood flew past her. She drew shuriken, one clasped between each finger, quickly and fired them off. More and more, kunai after kunai. She knew she was just wasting her weapons, but it gave her perverse pleasure as each shuriken ripped a tree apart, effective as a paper bomb.

Maybe she was just thinking irrationally, but Sasuke's word had driven her to a point of insane anger, striving her to prove that she was anything but weak. Never the weak stupid girl driven by love or emotion. This was the true shinobi way. She had grown up since that day, training twice as hard, learning so much from medical and ninjutsu textbooks every night, she had even surpassed the Hokage, though neither would admit it out loud.

She gasped, stomach instantly coiling in fear as the cold glint of metal was pressed against her neck. Her hands were bent behind her back, held together by a vice-like grip. When did that happen?

"Weak. Still weak, and will always be weak," Sasuke murmured against her ear. She felt faint with rage and defeat. He delivered a blow to the small of her back, causing her to fall against the knife. He drew it away just in time, as he watched Sakura fall to the forest floor without the aid of chakra.

In the back of his mind he registered the frantic yells from Naruto. 'Sakura-chan!' He stood still on the branch, the kunai held at angle, causing one drop of blood to roll off.

"Teme!" Naruto snarled. He stood there panting. When he next looked up, his whisker marks were darkening and his eyes were fierce orange, almost red. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as they bled to Mangekyou slowly. A strange aura of dark red chakra, darker than the last time they met, was slowly emanating around Naruto.

Naruto wheezed and clutched his stomach. Sasuke gripped Kusanagi. He knew Naruto was clawing at the burning pain from his seal containing the Nine Tails. Fool, idiot, he was leaving himself open for attack. Or perhaps he trusted Sasuke not to attack him, well he shouldn't! Sasuke growled to himself. But he was faintly curious as to what Naruto would transform to.

And perhaps that was Uchiha Sasuke's biggest mistake. Because the next time he blinked, an orange streak soared over his head, rendering him unconscious as he fell to the forest ground, next to a pink haired kunoichi he knew so well. Darkness was closing in rapidly and he struggled to get up. He wasn't making any progress; in fact, his body hadn't moved at all, disobeying the small shocks of electricity, commands to get up and fight from his brain.

He sensed Naruto drop down and mumble Sakura's name, over and over as he picked her up. He hated how Naruto could relax just after that one move. 'Come back and fight coward,' he had tried to say, but he couldn't move. The pain was too great. He watched dimly as Sakura's head was placed against Naruto's shoulder, as one arm looped the back of her knees, the other arm around her back.

With one scathing look sent in his direction, Naruto leapt into the night air, leaving the Uchiha to berate and curse himself, why he was so goddamn useless, into the dark night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Withered Black Flower:**

By:**Terrified of Logic**  
Beta-ed by the ama-_zing_ **Kisa Kisa Yum Yum**  
With help from the awesome **KinkyK and JazzyJ**

* * *

Sakura's eyes flew open. She was lying on a hospital bed with multiple bandages wrapped around her body, but she sensed that none of the wounds were serious. She turned her head to the window, the cause of her early arousal. Lifting a hand to block the sunlight, she squinted, then let her hand fall back to the bed with a soft thump. She closed her eyes and frowned.

Sasuke. He was back, and she let him escape for the second time. Damnit. It wouldn't happen again.

Sakura sat up in bed hunched over as a nurse came in. "Ah, Haruno san, you're awake. You're free to go anytime you want," she said kindly.

"Thank you, Shizuka chan," Sakura replied on autopilot, not really hearing the kind nurse's words.

Although Sakura was younger than Shizuka by several years, Sakura was the most capable kunoichi in the hospital and by far the cleverest. This was not an overnight transformation. Sakura earned her status as the strongest most capable kunoichi with time and effort. She was treated with respect; if she requested something, no questions would be asked.

Sakura decided to get up and kicked off the covers, leaving the room. Making her way upstairs she visited the intensive care unit for long term patients. The furthest bed nearest to the window was what she aimed for. From that window you could see the Hokage's heads carved into the mountain.

"Tsunade sama," Sakura greeted her teacher, whose eyes remained shut. She picked up a pen and notebook from inside a drawer in the bedside table, which she unlocked with a key combining chakra.

"How are we feeling today?" Sakura asked, false cheeriness in her voice.

"The poison has completely dissolved into my blood stream and it is affecting my lungs. The poison itself, I believe, penetrated my immune system and is starting to rise to the surface of my skin," Tsunade rattled off professionally.

Sakura wrote it all down; she was glad Tsunade sama was her patient. She knew how to make a medic nin's life so much easier. She added more details to the notebook, noting with dissatisfaction all the changes were not positive and were not moving in the direction to recovery.

"Tsunade sama, Sasuke has returned to Fire country." She bit her lip.

"Really."

"Yes. I...nothing."

"Sakura. Round up Kusagakure shinobi. They are the only ones who can help us now," Tsunade said. The intravenous tube was feeding nutrition and supplement to her bloodstream, but both knew there was really no point when the poison had completely saturated the cells. But it was a comforting illusion of help and both turned a blind eye to the medical instrument.

"Yes, Shishou." Sakura bowed her head once. "It's as good as done."

"Good Sakura. I know you will do well."

"Tsunade sama..."

"What Sakura?"

"...It's nothing."

* * *

Sakura paused as she looked over the track record of Tsunade's body health and condition. She sat cross legged in her modest apartment, travel equipment strewn all around her. Special senbon laced with deadly poison, kunai sharpened to perfection and shuriken littered the floor like coins. She had to be careful where exactly she placed her foot or she would be in trouble. There was a medical kit which she hoped she would never use and dried food for the one week journey.

She reread the journal from page one, hoping that as much as she analyzed it she would find a hint to the cure that would bring Tsunade sama back from the path of Death she was currently traveling on.

_Day One:_

_Tsunade's body is having difficulty moving. Her body is in shock trying to counteract the poison. It would seem that it is affecting the walls of her stomach. She is constantly cringing in pain, trying to curl into fetal position. Pupils have dilated and mouth is often dry._

_Day Two:_

_Her body cannot move without help. Legs have been thinned due to know circulation of blood. Toes have completely lost sense and are very quickly turning purple. It is as I have suspected, the poison is slowly melting the stomach and spreading. I have tried every antidote in the hospital and I am now trying herbs and chakra-infused antibiotics._

_Day Three:_

_The body has completely stopped moving, but she is still capable of speech. The herbs have not worked, but I am still working on it. Chakra signs are growing weaker and weaker. The inner coil is becoming smaller and smaller. The coil burns brightest at the core, holding the most amount of chakra but it is still not enough. Legs are completely motionless and half the stomach has melted. I have stopped the melting by chakra, sealing off intact skin from the melted acids, but it is not permanent. Skin colour is pallid._

_Day Four:_

_Tsunade is still capable of speech; however her eyes have closed permanently. There is no way to open them. It is as if the muscle holding the eyelid has completely deteriorated. Most of her lower body muscle is weak or deteriorated. I have noticed from the pressure points, most commonly known as chakra holes, chakra has been leaking through them, leaving the body temperature cold and weak. It is now necessary to use intravenous._

_Day Five:_

_The poison has completely dissolved into the blood stream and it is affecting the lungs. The poison itself penetrated the immune system and is starting to rise to the surface of the skin leaving it purple and blotchy. Hair is limp and she is losing a lot of it in clumps. Hot water bottles and necessary precautions have been taken to recreate the official body temperature. Separate chakra sources have been given as shots every three hours or so, but the body is losing more chakra than it is receiving._

And this was in one whole week. Sakura shuddered; how long would Shishou last? At this rate less than...

"A month," she whispered to herself. It was most crucial that she find the antidote. Every moment was precious and could not afford to be wasted. Being a Sannin had its advantages. She was stronger than most shinobi, she had a lot more chakra but even then, the ratio was still considered low.

Sakura packed all her things into a backpack. She felt safe going to Kusagakure because she knew some shinobi and were good friends with them. But as a precaution, and out of habit, she knew someone else who she wanted to come with her.

* * *

"Naruto!" Sakura knocked fiercely on his door the next morning. A bleary-eyed Naruto opened it. He still wore that night cap that looked like it had grabbed hold of his head while he slept. Sakura gave a quick smile. "Are you ready to go?" she asked.

"What are you-" Naruto asked, face pulling into a look of severe confusion.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. Stomping her foot, she rolled up her arm protectors and dropped her backpack. "I told you yesterday we would be leaving on a mission today!"

"Oh yeah…," he replied sheepishly, scratching his head. " Sorry, Sakura chan..."

"You've got five minutes, I'll be waiting at the Gate, or what's left of it. If you don't come then, I can safely assume you're not coming."

She turned on her heel, jumped onto the nearest roof, and was gone. Naruto pulled a face and retreated back into the house mumbling about how Sakura was always too high-strung.

Sakura knelt down to the rubble and picked up a piece of wood. One side was a bright red and the other a dark brown with several splintered points. She rubbed the red paint on the wood and sighed. She placed the piece of wood near another piece of wood in the pile. Destroyed, utterly ruined.

She heard the sound of running and looked up to see Naruto fully dressed with a backpack identical to hers.

"Lets go."

* * *

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked, darting through the trees next to Sakura, who looked like a red and pink blur.

"Kusagakure, I told you that," came the short reply.

"Hey isn't that where-"

"Sasuke attacked several days ago? Yes, we're going to have to be careful, they might not take too kindly to us, but I've got some connections that might help us." Sakura said, interrupting him. Naruto had been going to say, 'Where you, me, Kakashi, and Sasuke went on a mission, and then had a picnic in the field, when he was looking up at the clouds as if almost sad...' It was one of their last missions. Had Sasuke known that he was going to betray Konoha? Had he known that he was going hurt Sakura beyond recognition? Perhaps. Maybe Sakura didn't want to remember that day, or maybe she simply forgot. That was unlikely. Naruto focused on the branches and the thickets that whizzed past him, losing his thoughts in the green and brown.

"Ne, Naruto," Sakura said after a moment of silence. Naruto risked a side glance at her. She didn't look at him, avoiding his glance and staring dead ahead, but not looking at anything in particular.

"Yeah?"

"Last night...when I was..." She couldn't say 'unconscious', it was a painful reminder, and Sasuke had plainly told her 'weak', and she was. It wouldn't happen again, she promised herself.

"Sakura chan, you're strong. Remember that." He knew her well. "Sasuke will regret ever touching you," he said menacingly.

After an hour, they stopped near a stream to recharge some chakra. The day was hot and scorching, but the river felt cool on Sakura's smooth unblemished legs. She watched, amused, as Naruto stripped down to his underwear, and yelled as he dove into the blue river, spraying water everywhere. Her laugh was weak and fake as she was forced to remembered the last time she was here. There had been one more person but she was more than happy to erase him from her memory. Or was she?

The sun hid itself behind a cloud, taking all its precious unwanted heat with it. In thirty minutes they would arrive at Kusagakure. Perhaps they would take kindly to her, maybe they would forget the brooding ninja that had attacked their village days ago. Hopefully they would not remember that he was a part of their...team. So long ago, maybe it was an illusion. She wasn't sure of anything anymore these days, and it was scaring her.

* * *

"Sakura!?" The two Shinobi turned around at the sound of two bodies dropping gracefully from the forest to the turf.

"Yes-"

"It's been a long time! How are you?" she asked, embracing the kunoichi.

"We are well, but Konohagakure... We need your help."

The two kunoichi nodded seriously and took her by her arm, leading her into the village. Naruto walked beside them, listening carefully to what they had to say. But he wasn't really listening. He was thinking of Konoha, destroyed and ruined by that bastard who hurt Sakura. If they met again, he would show him, just how much he had hurt her.

* * *

Deep in the forest, a dark redheaded kunoichi stripped off her top and sat cross legged next to her teammate who struggled to sit up.

"So much chakra… drained in one go," he muttered in awe and anger. Respect for the Nine Tails? Never in a thousand years. He cursed himself once more, feeling sick with self-criticism.

"Hurry," The red headed kunoichi said, half naked. Her upper torso was covered in bite marks, especially around her neck. "You're losing too much chakra." She leaned forward, presenting her neck to him.

She wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and he leaned in, placing his mouth on her neck and sinking his teeth into her flesh easily, like a hot knife through butter. She moaned throatily, truly enjoying herself though the same couldn't be said of Sasuke. He drew in chakra, feeling it rush through this chakra channels. If his normal chakra felt blue, this felt green and foreign, different and not what he was used to.

"This injury has cost me," Sasuke said indifferently, not really talking to Karin. She buttoned up her shirt and stood up. A small plink sounded, followed by more. Rain started pouring down but they didn't get wet for they were under the canopy of trees.

"Go to Oto, we'll camp there tonight."

Back on his two feet and able, both shinobi blended into the night without another sound.


	3. Chapter 3

**Withered Black Flower:**

By:**Terrified of Logic**  
Beta-ed by the ama-_zing_ **Kisa Kisa Yum Yum**  
With help from the awesome **KinkyK and JazzyJ**

* * *

"Sakura san, please," the Kusakage said, motioning to a chair. She was a kind woman, young, but her face was older beyond her years. _Just like someone else I know_, but that thought was quickly banished from her head.

"It's been a long time, what brings you to our modest town?" the Kage asked, lacing her fingers together and smiling warmly. Her huge oak desk would put Tsunade's cherry-wood desk to shame. The room was spacious, but it felt smaller due to the stacks of books and papers that cluttered the room, in neat organized piles. Sakura and Naruto took a seat in front of the desk.

They looked at each other once and Sakura cleared her throat. She knew by personal experience that the Kusa shinobi were kind and rather nonchalant, but they were always calculating and analyzing. She wouldn't put it pass the Kage to have some shinobi in the room, disguised as fake potted plants. Any wrong intention or move against them and it was over. But then again if they had wrongly accused the misfortunate, flowers would be arranged to be sent to the funeral. It was a chilling group of shinobi, lead by a very vigilant, nerve wracking leader. But it wasn't to be said that she was inhospitable or unpleasant.

Sakura started again.

"Konoha sends us with a plea for help. Otogakure and Team Taka have banded together to declare war on Konoha and have already destroyed the protecting walls. Walls that have stood for more than four hundred years. I believe the main leader is...Sasuke, which is why--" Her voice cracked. "Which is why we need the help. We are rapidly losing shinobi each day, and Konoha is being slowly ripped apart," she finished.

The Kusakage smiled, appraising the two Konoha shinobi. But her smile somehow chilled the atmosphere in the office effectively, causing both shinobi to swallow and knot their hands together.

"And pray, why do you want Kusa involved? Are you saying Tsunade wants Kusa shinobi to be sacrificed at the mercy of Oto?" Sakura hissed slightly at the flippant and casual usage of her mentor's name, without the honorific.

"Kusa does not need to be affiliated with such matters. To be slaughtered like animals, like worthless soldiers. And pray you tell me, what is the gain?" the Kage whispered, her eyes twinkling.

"A price of one hundred thousand ryo, **(The currency that they used in medieval Japan)** a piece for each shinobi. If this is not satisfactory, we will be leaving. We have finished the mission and we will be reporting to Tsunade sama. Good day, Kusakage." Sakura made to stand up.

"Sakura chan-" Naruto started and received an eye watering blow to his shin.

They reached the door, Naruto hobbling a bit. The Kage, still sitting behind her desk hands laced, was silent, then-

"How is Tsunade chan these days?" she called out as Sakura turned the handle to open the door. Sakura turned three quarters of the way, not fully looking at the Kage, but her back not fully turned towards her either.

"Have you not heard, Kusakage sama? Tsunade sama has fallen ill by poison and can no longer rule Konoha like she once did. Good day, Kage sama," she said in almost quiet disdain as she and Naruto let themselves out of the office.

"Donguri, Kinomi!" the Kage barked. The two identical potted plants transformed with a puff of smoke into two equally identical twins, their long brown hair tied in ponytails.

"Yes, Kage sama?" they chorused together, eyes on the Kusakage.

"Round up three hundred shinobi and prepare them to leave for Konoha tomorrow night."

The nodded and disappeared. The Kusakage's eyes smiled as she reached for her favourite sweet kept in a jar on her desk.

* * *

"Sakura chan, do you think the Kusakage sama will help Konoha?" _She better_, Naruto added to himself.

"I hope so, I really don't want Shishou getting angry at me today," she answered calmly.

"Well, why didn't you argue your case? It's your fault if you get in trouble," Naruto said pointedly.

"Naruto, you're so stupid. Sometimes I wonder how you even got to Chuunin level." Sakura shook her head but still did not answer his question.

Naruto scowled deeply, and Sakura was forced to be reminded of a dark, brooding teenager she once knew. She coughed and blushed. This was getting beyond ridiculous. Every single detail of anything caused her to think of him and it was getting to be quite tedious to keep making excuses as to why she suddenly turned cherry red at the drop of a pin. Honestly, if she had more control of her feelings then....

She lost her footing and twisted her ankle painfully. Falling to the forest ground, she grabbed the branch that had just whisked by her and hoisted herself up. What the fuck just happened? She swore the branch was just there, but Naruto was already ahead, jumping branch to branch, not having noticed that Sakura had fallen. The branch was there, she had a grip on it…right? She moved to get up and found her hands and body were immobilized. She fought the panic and closed her eyes.

_Kai._

She struggled to bring herself from her subconscious. But it was difficult. What kind of genjutsu was this? It was so real, the branches and how tightly her wrist were bound, as if there really were ropes around them. But it made it more frustrating knowing that there were no ropes. She tried closing herself off again, distancing herself from reality, but it was difficult, being a realist... _That's not the point!_ she yelled in her head. Again and again, while being plunged into the dark abyss that was her mind, she shouted, _Kai, kai, KAI!_

An achingly familiar word rang in her head. The word lisping, hissing and perfunctory all at once. And so achingly familiar...

_Weak_.

The word rang in her head. "Not. Weak," she mumbled, trying in vain to move her hands into a seal.

_Kai... Kai..._

Come on. Time was running out. But where was Naruto? Obviously he wasn't in the genjutsu, but in reality what had happened to him? Fear struck her, and consumed her nerves like wildfire. She let out a choked groan and tried again.

_Kai...kai...KAI!_

And in that instant her world was pitch black. It was only a second but it felt like a full minute. She was acutely tuned in to all sounds; the rustling of leaves and the sensation of bark against skin was all too clear. Without warning her sight was restored and she saw that she was surrounded by black cloaks, artfully decorated with red clouds.

"A-Akatsuki!" Her eyes widened. She moved but found she actually was bound to the tree. Her hands were tied behind the tree and her back was rubbing painfully against the bark of the trunk. She closed her eyes, trying to find inner solace to calm and recollect her thoughts.

She opened her eyes again and grinned at the Akatsuki. They all stood, half their faces hidden by the high necked cloaks, and she wondered briefly about the bright hair colours, then snapped back to the present.

"Stop laughing. We come in peace; all we want is-"

"Kyuubi, yes I know," Sakura finished for the long blonde haired man. Sakura always thought he looked slightly girlish but that wasn't the point, especially when he was holding a cute clay bird that she knew was a ticking bomb.

"So why do you have me chained to a tree?"

"We're not stupid, because if you were not tied to the tree, you would have a) ran back to Konoha alerting the Hokage, or b) tried to get the Kyuubi back from us," Deidara said with a shrug. The Akatsuki parted, showing Sakura a very beat up Naruto slumped to the ground in defeat. Cuts and bruises adorned his face, his eyes swollen closed. His clothes were ripped in odd places and his kunai holder had completely disappeared.

She shrugged her shoulders and felt the ropes loosen. Bringing her hands to her chest, she put them together in a seal. She looked up at the group of Akatsuki and grinned, smiling widely.

"Kai," she whispered once more through her lips, triumphantly.

The scene in front of her dissolved to black once more, and she slowly opened her eyes.

"How did you guess?" A voice came from high up above in the trees.

"It was easy. One, I have never seen Naruto unconscious after a fight. Even if this was true, he has fought you Akatsuki before. He knows your tricks and the special jutsu's you use, it would be easy to avoid them. Also the cuts and bruises; since Naruto's chakra is infused with Kyuubi chakra, his wounds are healed quickly. Such minor wounds disappear after ten minutes, and by the look of him during the genjutsu, it looked like he was out for an hour. Furthermore, he recently fought against Sasuke. His trademark jutsu is Rasengan. Rasengan requires a lot of chakra, and that is why only Naruto at Chuunin level can accomplish this, again, with the aid of Kyuubi. Too much chakra used at one time causes the skin to burn, and neither of Naruto's hands are scarred in any way. So, it was clear it was a genjutsu. The best shinobi is always observant." Sakura smiled again.

"Well done." Sakura heard slow clapping. "But pray, explain why Naruto isn't here at the moment, then. How do you know we haven't already kidnapped him?"

"Because there is none of his chakra tracing around this area. His chakra is very distinct and by whatever jutsu or move he does requiring the Kyuubi, it always leaves a mark discerning where he is. Most likely, he has escaped you and has gone back to Konoha to get together a team of Anbu to come save me. The reason why you stopped me here was so I couldn't defend Naruto. That obviously backfired so, excuse me, I need to stop my idiot teammate from recruiting the team of unwanted Anbu."

"You can see why we covet the Kyuubi. Its powers are strong, aren't they." It wasn't a question. "You're safe today. Go home, but the next time we won't be too lenient, and brains and wit won't save you." With that the voice was lost in the wind, and the trees continued to sing their sorrowful, husky song through the leaves.

* * *

Sakura walked the rest of the way and finally leapt over the demolished wall that enclosed Konohagakure.

"Sakura chan!" Naruto yelled, running towards her, three Anbu in tow. Sakura groaned and ran a hand through her hair. Naruto always did such pointless, unnecessary things.

"Naruto! There was no need to call Anbu, I can handle myself. Or don't you have any faith in me?" And with that, she turned on her heel and walked down the road to her house. Naruto gaped after her and then scratched the back of his head.

"I uh--haha..." he said sheepishly to the Anbu members who were grumbling, walking back to where they originally were working.

"Hey, kid, call us when you need real help," one said scathingly as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto sighed. The next planned attack from Oto was tonight, he really shouldn't have bothered Anbu when they were busy going over strategies and training tactics. But he really was worried about Sakura chan.

He walked down the road to Ichiraku, grumbling about Sakura's lack of appreciation.

"The usual please," Naruto mumbled, sliding into a booth, arms crossed on the table.

"Hey boy, you don't look so happy today," the old man serving said, observing the slumped shinobi.

"Women…," Naruto said, face in his arms.

"Aah..." the old man said knowingly, smiling and nodding as he tossed some noodles into the water.

* * *

"Hey! I told you, Konoha is this way," a girl said angrily, waving a map vigorously around at an identical girl while hopping from branch to branch.

"No! You said that we have to go over the great river and take the mountain pass-"

"Yeah, and turn right at the second turning and go through the field-"

"Why-"

"You-"

"Stupid-"

"Shut up!"

"Ow! Why the fuck did you just hit me?!"

"Donguri, just cause you were three minutes and twenty four seconds ahead of me doesn't mean you're in charge."

"Actually, Kinomi, it does."

"Donguri, Kinomi maybe it would be better if we just-"

"Shut up, Manryou!"

***Donguri= Acorn**

****Kinomi= Fruit or berry**

*****Manryou= Spearflower**


	4. Chapter 4

**Withered Black Flower:  
By:Terrified of Logic  
Beta-ed by the ama-zing Kisa Kisa Yum Yum  
With help from the awesome KinkyK and JazzyJ**

* * *

Chapter 4:

The water gushed into the bathtub, steam curling and rising in the air. Her robe slipped off her shoulders, baring creamy skin laced with scars and cuts, fresh and old. Sakura untied her hair, enjoying the feel of the loose strands swishing around her nape. It was a rare action to do and savour. Stepping into the bath, she winced as the hot water touched the fresh scars on her legs. She sank down slowly to reduce maximum pain and slowly stretched out her legs. Leaning her head back as the water filled the tub slowly, one hand dangled over the edge of the bath, and she closed her eyes.

The weight of the water was heavy on her chest and with effort, she turned off the faucet with her foot. Letting it splash back into the water, she opened one eye and lazily looked towards the counter where her headband lay.

The spiraling design was nostalgic, yet she'd worn it proudly upon her head everyday for the last six years. This headband was a symbol of trust and loyalty. It was a privilege to wear this upon any shinobi's head, and every morning before the sun rose, before her shift and training started, Sakura would stand in front of her mirror and take the headband with two hands, gaze at the symbol, wishing and longing everyday that Sasuke would come home….but that was then, this is now. Now, everyday she would place the headband against her lips, the cold metal against her fingertips, and she would whisper. Whisper that this day, she would find and kill Uchiha Sasuke for the grief and pain he had caused her.

Sakura rubbed a finger tip on her arm, and noticed that her skin had wrinkled horribly. She smiled dryly. A grandmother at eighteen.

Her mother used to read a story like that to her; it was her favourite. The main character had black hair, and she always imagined the girl having pink hair, despite the fact that the story said her hair was dyed 'starlight'.

She got out of the bath tub, draining it at the same time. Her head spun and swirled from the change of altitude. She checked her watch and yelped. It was 9:46 in the afternoon, and her shift started at 9:30.

"Oh no…oh no….oh no….fuck…….damn…mother-" She trailed into cursing silence and struggled with the zipper on her jacket. She growled, sounding remarkably like an ex fellow teammate…

She ran out the door grabbing the medical kit along the way. Damn, she hadn't been late to a shift since she was fourteen. What was happening to her?

Cursing as she leapt onto a roof, she navigated a shortcut to the hospital.

* * *

"You're an idiot, Kinomi!" Donguri shouted.

"Shut up! You're the one who got us lost to Konoha--Give the dumb map back!" Kinomi said, lunging for the map.

"Both of you, maybe we can sort this out over-"

"NO!" the two scary kunoichi yelled together.

"Give."

"No."

"Me.."

"Fuck off."

"The effing."

"NO!"

"MAP!"

"Err, Donguri isn't that-"

"What, Manryou?" Donguri asked, annoyed because her sister managed to wrench the map away from her hands because of the distraction.

"That- isn't that the Hokage tower?"

All three stood and gaped at the huge tower loomingover them.

"Why didn't we see it before? This is your fault, Donguri. If you didn't yell all the time-"

"Look shut up, both of you, you're fucking annoying me. Donguri, if you didn't pick a fight every so often Kinomi wouldn't get annoyed, and Kinomi if you provoke your sister, you shame Mum," Manryou said in an uncharacteristicly steely tone of voice.

* * *

Making it to the gates of the Konoha Hospital, Sakura sighed. Breaking into a trot, she made her way into the hospital and up to the Intensive Care Unit. There were many floors to the hospital and Sakura herself got lost on her first day of working here. But in the end it was rather simple. The hospital was divided into ten floors. The bottom four was the library and laboratories, but that was set underground and the floors were labeled B1, B2, B3 and B4. The so-called first floor was actually the fifth level. This was reception and for outpatients. The first two levels were offices and treatment offices. Konoha was a rich village but even with the war the damage was done.

Sakura winced as she saw a little boy screaming about his leg, which was now a stump, completely blown off by the looks of it, and bleeding. She saw this kind of scene so frequently but it always made her wince with pity.

She made her way to the elevator and got in, greeting a colleague who was jotting memos on her clipboard. The third to eighth floors were for inpatients with different wards for cancer and poison and wounds etc. But the last two floors were for shinobi. These floors were both Intensive Care Units and the rooms were slightly more luxurious with a twenty-four hour surveillance team.

She checked in with the tenth level desk, and picked up her notebook filled with observations and medical techniques.

"Good evening, Sakura san," Maya said. "The hospital is so busy tonight, what do they think they're doing waging war?" Sakura nodded but didn't say anything.

Making her way down the long corridor, she found the room she was looking for. Sliding the door open, she walked over to her teacher and mentor.

"Tsunade sama." She bowed respectfully, even though she knew Tsunade couldn't see her. Sakura wrote down some notes and further observations. She checked Tsunade's pulse and breathing. After deciding that Tsunade would be fine for at least three more days, she adjusted the IV tube and called in for more morphine.

While she waited, she sighed and looked out of the window. There were more attacks tonight and she could see the orange silhouette of fire against the inky black horizon.  
"Tsunade shishou, can you see that? The village that you helped to protect and build is being destroyed, hundreds of shinobi are dying as we speak…" She trailed into silence. An undergraduate medic-nin knocked and came forth with the morphine. She changed the almost empty bag and left quietly. Patting Tsunade's hand lightly, Sakura stretched and left the room. She checked in with reception once more and filled in an empty slot for her next shift.

She yawned. Another long night, not that she wasn't used to it. Walking out of the hospital she could see fires everywhere in the distance. Wishing the shinobi good luck in her heart, she made for the local library. There was an interesting book on cures that she thought she might take notes on.

"…She wasn't there.."

"What do you mean 'She wasn't there'?"

"I mean what I said dumbass."

"Don't fucking called me a dumbass you're the one who-"

"Donguri?!" Sakura yelled excitedly in recognition. She waved and ran over.

"Oh hey!" Donguri's voice changed from one of annoyance to pure nostalgia.

"What are you guys-wow, it's great to see you all together!" Sakura said happily, hugging the twins.

"And what am I? The next door neighbour?" Manryou grumbled. Sakura turned and hugged him tightly around the waist.

"I haven't seen you guys since I was what-- eleven?" Sakura said.

"Mmmhmm, as pink as ever." Kinomi commented, twirling a strand between her fingers.

"The Kusakage sent us along with three hundred shinobi-" Donguri and Kinomi said together. "She says the payment is alright, and she'd do anything for her old friend."

"By the way, where is Tsunade sama? I heard she was ill but.." Manryou trailed off awkwardly.

"She's in the hospital," Sakura said softly. The three shinobi looked at each other and a frown tugged at Donguri's mouth.

"May we go see her? We have a message to give her from the Kusakage."

"Of course." Sakura turned and returned to the hospital again for the second time that night, but with three shinobi in tow.

"Right through here.." Sakura muttered and held the door open for them. They filed through the door one by one, respectful and mindful they were in the midst of an ill patient.

"Tsunade shishou, the Kusa shinobi are here to see you." Sakura whispered.

"Can she hear you?" Donguri asked quietly.

"I hope so."

"Hokage sama, the Kusakage sends her condolences and she wishes you good health. Three hundred Kusa shinobi are at your disposal, and we shall do everything to end the war." Manryou bowed.

Sakura smiled apologetically and they smiled in return. They walked out the door, and Sakura could hear the faint sounds of Donguri and Kinomi bickering again in the hallway, along with Manryou's unhelpful attempts in dissipating it. She turned to her mentor once more.

"Tsunade sama…"

* * *

Unaware of how late it was, Sakura sat at her desk on the tenth floor taking notes from a thick book that lay in front of her.

The toxic poisons of the Kanon leaf often leaves the victim with a red rash and fever. The toxins enter the bloodstream and proceed to attack the heart cells. This plant often targets small animals, but is not fatal to-

Sakura turned to the next page and frowned, right hand stilling. 'No that can't be right because it is fatal to humans…and Tsunade doesn't have a rash…" She kept reading the next page and listed down the toxin and properties, but even though she had looked through six hundred and fifty seven toxins and their antidotes she couldn't find one that matched the poison in Tsunade. She growled and swallowed her anger, refusing to lose against the irritation of not finding her goal. It was only difficult because she was looking for the unknown, it was like trying to locate a black hole…only a black hole would still be easier to locate than the antidote and toxin.

"Sakura chan!" Naruto walked in holding a paper bag. Sakura jolted forward, used to silence, and blotted an ink spot on her notebook. Sighing she quickly took a tissue and mopped up the mess.

"Oh, sorry.." Naruto said scratching his head, watching Sakura tidy up yet another one of his messes.

"It's alright," Sakura said and yawned. "What time is it anyway?"

"Around twelve thirty."

"God I'm tired…"

"I told you that you work too hard. Oh yeah, I bought dango, to keep your strength up, you know, and some tea."

"Thanks, I don't know what I'd do without you." Sakura yawned loudly and stretched.

Naruto set down the sweets and poured Sakura a cupful of green tea he brought in a thermos. Sakura drank and let the warm liquid blaze a trail down her throat and to her stomach. Feeling slightly revitalized, she picked up her pen and started rereading through her notes.

"Shannaro, I will figure out this antidote…" she muttered and frowned, concentrating deeply.

"Sakura chan, on the way here I saw fire…inextinguishable fire…" Naruto said sitting on the edge of her desk looking out the window at the inky black sky.

Sakura stopped working and looked up.

"What?"

"I said-"

"You saw Amaterasu?" Sakura cut in smoothly.

"Yeah..I think it was, but it was a tiny flame. I couldn't stamp it out. That how I knew. Do you think…?"

"Sasuke…" Sakura breathed. Both looked at each other. A deep connection inside them was worried for their ex teammate, but the other shinobi...

"Sakura chan! Sakura chan!" Donguri and Kinomi chorused together, bursting through the door. Sakura and Naruto turned to look at the pair of them, surprised. Manryou followed behind, looking pleased with himself.

"What-"

* * *

Sasuke crouched in the darkness; poison darts littered the area around him. Glaring, he could see the three figures above him. Their fighting style was one of Kusa. He leapt from his position as a hand burst from the grass, attempting to grab his ankle. He cursed, then noticed the grassy land was charged with chakra. This fight would have to be fought in the trees, and he would have to keep moving. He cursed again. He shouldn't let his guard down, not now and not ever. The last time he let his guard down was when he had faced his brother, crying and pleading why his brother had done such an illicit act. That also happened to be the last time he cried…He gripped Kusangi and quickly slashed at the air, forming a snake. It multiplied and after slithering in different directions they exploded.

"Donguri, now!" He heard on voice on his right say.

"Gotcha!" A smug voice whispered. He spun around and saw two identical girls with chestnut coloured hair smirking at him. He growled and charged his right hand with a powerful Chidori. He wouldn't miss, he was sure about his targets. Running toward the smirking girls, he raised his right hand, glowing blue and chirping with one thousand birds.  
He was gaining momentum. Why were they still smiling? He would give them something to smile about. Except he couldn't, especially when the charges he sent went right through them. He froze, Chidori still burning. A boy roughly his age had emerged from a tree- no he was the tree- and had started making seals. The ground rose, grass creeping up the trunk of the tree he was standing on. Rapidly, even faster now, no matter how much chakra Sasuke used to block the green tendrils it didn't work. Fuck. The grass was fucking strangling him. A girl appeared next to him and smiled,

"Man, you're hot…" she whispered, trailing a finger down the side of his face. "Better looking than any other guy I've killed." Her finger traced the border where the grass met his neck. Her tongue flicked out, nearly touching his skin but not quite. He cursed at her, called her every name under the sun and even growled but nothing stopped her from smiling and stabbing him in the neck with some dart. He was rapidly seeing black from the lack of oxygen. Must hang on…

He never felt his body falling and hitting the ground.

The three shinobi crowded around, looking at him. Feeling a bit sorry, the compassionate one of the twins sat his body against the tree instead of the crumpled heap he was before. When the grass next rustled, they were gone.

* * *

"Sakura chan? Are you okay?"

"Naruto.." she said weakly, leaning against him. Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder understandingly. He didn't need to say it.

"What?" Donguri asked ,looking at her siblings. "Did I say something?"

"No…it's nothing. I need to go…"

"Sakura chan, should I come with you?" Naruto asked as Sakura got to her feet shakily.

"No I'll be okay…" Sakura whispered. She left the room and walked down the corridor quickly, but not before picking up her red jacket with the Haruno symbol emblazoned on the back and her medical bag. The cool air embraced her as she stepped out from the gates. She had no time left if she were to save him.

The night had never looked darker.

* * *

"What did I say!" Donguri wailed wringing her hands.

"Idiot! You just made Sakura upset!" Kinomi said hitting her twin on the head. "Baka."

"I know that, God."

"Naruto, why did Sakura chan react like that?" Kinomi asked while Donguri nursed her head with her hand.

"I don't think I should-"

"Yes?" The twins prompted.

"Well I…."

They looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't think I should say, it is strictly only Sakura's and Sasuke's business."

"Aha! So the guy is called Sasuke!" The twins chorused. Naruto slapped his head. Damn, he was bad at being secret keeper.

* * *

_Sasuke where are you? Tell me where you are…_ Sakura pleaded in her mind. She had no idea where she was going and the forest was huge. Instincts guided her on, leading her through the woods. Endless bushes and trees looked identical and it felt as if she was going around in circles. She felt guilty, and she had no idea why.

_Because she was doing this for a traitor_.

Why shouldn't she save him, she reasoned, he is just as human as anybody else. _Is he?_ The annoying voice in her head challenged her. It felt like hours since she started looking for him. She paused to take a breath and started again. A knot in her heart was forming, a familiar knot that she thought she had gotten rid of years ago.

Then.

There.

In the shadows, she saw a figure resting against the base of a tree. There was no mistaking those raven locks. She made her way over to him, then less than two meters away she stopped and rethought her actions.

_There's no going back after this._

_I know,_ she replied, and she knelt down on her knees. She didn't know why tears were flowing down her cheeks. As she crawled towards him she realized the line between loyalty and betrayal was one thin line.

_Sasuke..kun…I'm here now. And…I'm sorry._


	5. Chapter 5

**Withered Black Flower:  
By:Terrified of Logic  
Beta-ed by the ama-zing Kisa Kisa Yum Yum  
With help from the awesome KinkyK and JazzyJ**

* * *

The world was pitch black. This was it, the end… wasn't it? I felt nothing. I could not move or see or anything. Just thoughts, flitting across a black void of space. It was suffocating, the pressure that was pressing in all sides of me. I flashed back to pinks and reds and oranges. Beautiful and nostalgic, warm. Warmer than this coldness, this coldness that was slowly numbing all sensation.

Suddenly I was jerked and twisted, vaulted and thrown unceremoniously. But I was going nowhere, or at least I didn't feel I was going anywhere in the darkness that was pressing in on me. That swooping sensation and then something pulled at the back of my head.  
A burning pain that wouldn't go away and I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out…

* * *

"Harumi!" Sakura yelled as her hands glowed a ferocious green, flashing and bright.

Harumi jerked to attention, eyes wide.

"The amnesiac and serum, now!"

"H-Hai!"

"The healing seal and tube!"

"Hai!"

"No! Why is he screaming? No, the blood loss-! Harumi!"

The young medic in training created several hand seals and applied it to the additional glowing healing chakra of Sakura's hands.

"His heart beat is still high… but he's calmed down now, I think. Thank you for your help. I'll make sure you get a raise the next pay day.. That is, if they don't destroy Konoha before then.." Sakura said darkly. She dismissed the girl who bowed quickly and scampered away. Sakura's heart still raced and pumped from adrenaline.

She turned to the patient on the stretcher. Blood was everywhere, but she secured some of the poison that was in the body. The serum settled thickly, a slightly pus-like substance. The top layer was floating with what looked like red puddles of oil but was actually chakra. Fascinating. It would be more interesting if it wasn't too lethal. The patient let out a guttural sigh and resumed breathing normally. She turned to look at him. He looked pathetic. Now who was the weak one?

_Hmm Sasuke?_

* * *

Sakura yawned and opened her eyes. It was eight in the morning and she had fallen asleep on her desk, exhausted from last night's procedure. She looked down at her desk. She had been in the middle of writing down observations on the poison that she had extracted from Sasuke. But, unable to keep her eyes , them close for a second and somehow that second turned into three hours. There was a thermos of tea a with a note attached.

_Sakura chan,_

_You seemed so tired. I can imagine you would be. I left some hot tea for you when you wake up so you can get some caffeine into your system to wake you up for another big day!_

Sakura groaned and closed her eyes at the prospect of another late night.

_Well I'm going to the hospital to check up on teme. Just to, you know, get things straight between all of us. There's no reason to come over, really. I just want to say hi. Really. Don't come over. Get some more rest. In fact, sleep till ten. It won't take more than-_

That was all Sakura needed to read before she was out the door, headband in hand.

"Naru-!"

Bursting into Sasuke's room, she saw Naruto sitting by Sasuke's bed. She was breathing hard and her hair was slightly frazzled from her frantic run over to the hospital room.

Naruto turned to look at her.

"Oh…I thought when you said…You really just mean to say-"

"Hello? Yeah. I told you on the note, right?"

"O-oh….right." Sakura chuckled awkwardly and pulled up a stool as well.

"By the way, why is the name on the door 'Uragiri Testsuya'?"

"Cause I can't risk people finding out that he's back," she said, motioning to Sasuke without looking at him.

"You're going to save him, right? You're our best medic after all," Naruto said with a wide grin.

Sakura was silent. She thought about it all last night. The obvious answer was to heal him. Then what? Get ignored, endure comments that stung worse than a kunai to the stomach? Would he even be grateful? He would probably just say he would have rather died than be with her.  
"I…"

"Sakura chan!" Naruto reprimanded her sharply, eyes flashing. "This is Sasuke we're talking about, your--no, our teammate we've known for more than fifteen years. Do you think we could just abandon him? He would do the same for us if we were in his state, ne?"

"No… he'd leave me to die out there."

"Rubbish," Naruto denied. "He's our teammate."

"Yeah, so what if he is our teammate? He still hurt you badly! He still rejected and forgot us! He tried to kill and attack us! Do you think we still owe him favours?!" Sakura asked, breast heaving, eyes passionate and wet.

"Then why did you save him?" Naruto asked quietly.

"I don't know…"

* * *

Naruto lounged in a chair reading a magazine and eating some noodles from a bedside table, happily commenting on the 'Hot Girls' section of the magazine, while Sakura murmured words to Tsunade, changing the flowers in the vase and writing down observations of her body health and functions.

"I don't think she's that hot. I mean look at chick number eight-"

"Mmm," Sakura said absentmindedly. She sat at Tsunade's side and lifted a limp blonde plait. She gathered some more and started a new plait, finger combing the hair softly. Tsunade barely opened her eyes these days. She secured the end with a periwinkle ribbon she found in her medic jacket. She laid it down on the pillow gently and even more gently dabbed her mentor's face with a damp cloth. It was a shame, really. It was so degrading to see a shinobi of such power and status brought down to this level.

"Actually, this chick has nice tits…," Naruto said to no one in particular, still engrossed in the magazine. Sakura paid him no mind as she stared out the window. Birds chirped and flitted on the electric lines outside, and it was such a clear blue day. The sun was warm on her face and finally it was just peace and quiet.

"Naruto, will you get me some ramen? Please?"

"Ehh, no way. Get it yourself. I'm busy," he said, showing the page he was on to Sakura who immediately clapped a hand over her eyes.

"That's disgusting."

"No it isn't!"

"Can you just get me the ramen already?"

"Fine then!" Naruto huffed. He put down the magazine and walked out of the room.

Sakura sighed and pulled out a small notebook from her bag. It was small and pink; her diary. She flipped through it and reread a section.

_July 23rd  
Today was Sasuke's birthday, so guess what I did? Okay, so remember last year when I baked him a cake? The icing and the cream and all that, God that was hard, and I burned myself with the stupid oven TWICE. Oh, but that didn't hurt. Oh, it couldn't have been when he said he didn't like cakes and shut the door in my face, while I was still smiling. It couldn't have been when I came to training later that day and he was being spoon fed some crappy food by Ami and actually letting her. You know Last Christmas by Wham? Yeah._

_This year, well I was determined not to break my heart, so guess what I did? Yep, that's right. Nothing. I ignored him. We just trained and trained some more. But it was like the more I tried not to follow him, the more he followed me. It really didn't help my trying to ignore him scheme. See, I dropped my kunai, silly of me, and just as I bet down to get it, he stood there holding it out to me, expressionless. I just took it slowly without saying anything. That's the first time he's ever done that to me. We had lunch and I sat under the tree as usual while Sasuke dodged Naruto's pleas for more food. Naruto tipped over my lunch and just when I was about to get mad at him for being such an idiot, Sasuke just handed his over while Naruto screeched indignantly. It was a good day. These are just small acts, but for Sasuke kun, nothing is too small for me to appreciate._

Sakura slowly shut the notebook and tried to ignore the squeezing sensation in her chest. She stood up and left the room. She needed to go do something.

* * *

The door slid open noiselessly, yet the body on the bed turned to face her. After a bit, it turned back to the window it was looking out at.

Sakura said nothing and continued to walk to the bed. Although her face betrayed no emotion, inside she was quivering, shaking, and felt on the verge of losing control. She hadn't been this near to him when he was unable to run away from her in a long time.  
"Uchiha," she acknowledged rather awkwardly.

He said nothing. His face registered nothing. It was as if she wasn't there. Something sparked inside her. She saved him! She knew he would act this way and it made her furious. Letting out a stream of curses, she shook the bed and forced him to look at her.

She spoke more quietly, and his gaze just hardened and a muscle twitched in his jaw. She whispered in his ear and his eyes widened just a bit. She pulled back satisfactorily, triumph evident in her face. Then he turned away.

"Weak as usual."

Blinded with a white rage, Sakura let loose an animalistic growl. She could hear nothing but the roaring blood in her ears and the reverberating words in her head. Pulling her hand back, ignited with chakra, she threw her weight into the punch… that was stopped.

Sakura and Sasuke turned to look at the intruder. Naruto held the crook of Sakura's elbow with one hand, which flamed in red chakra in effort to stop the blow. The requested ramen was spilt on the floor but the three of them took no notice.

"Well if it isn't Team Three once more."

With that Sakura let her arm fall and sank to the floor on her knees, crying softly.

* * *

"So, anyone want coffee?" Naruto asked cheerfully, completely oblivious to the tension growing in the room between his former teammates, who were currently looking in opposite directions.

"No?" Naruto continued. "Well, I want-_"

"Dobe, shut up," Sasuke said. Sakura barely cracked a smile. It was something Sasuke always said, but now times where different.

"Ok ok, you don't have to get rude about it!" Naruto said, raising his hands in defeat.

"Naruto kun!" Donguri said, peering in through the door. "Do you want to get something with me?"

Much to Sakura's dismay, Naruto cheerfully agreed and left the room.

They sat, well, Sasuke lay, in silence. It was painful and loud. Sakura had so many things she wanted to tell him, not all of them good. Some were variations of 'go to hell, bastard'.

"Naruto told me I was poisoned." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes. I extracted a sample yesterday but the poison is so soluble I couldn't get everything out. There's still some in your bloodstream and it's fatal."

It was silent again, but this time it was awkward for both.

"I can-"

"Sakura, why did you save me?"

"Because…because you're our teammate?" Her voice rose a pitch at the end, making it sound like a question. Sasuke laugh derisively which resulted in a rasping wheeze.

"That's Naruto's answer. What is your answer, Haruno?"

"I…I…"

"I didn't need to be saved. To die in dignity is what should have happened."

"Oh, and being beaten by three Kusa shinobi is noble?" Sakura fired back, stung.

"No, but I'd rather die at their hands than be saved by you."

Sakura's hands clenched into fists.

"Say it again with a straight face. This time Naruto isn't here to save you."

"I know you better than that, so I won't say it again. But to lose your temper so easily. My my, what have we actually learned in the last three years I was away?" Sasuke smirked. He struggled to sit up. Sakura automatically switched to medic nin, despite her wishes.

"You shouldn't-"

"Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do!" Sasuke barked, panting slightly. The covers fell, revealing a heavily bandaged chest.

He then doubled ove,r coughing wildly, clutching his head. Sakura immediately put him on his side and applied some chakra to his throat, concentrating on his blood stream and isolating bits of the poison she could find, but it was difficult, as the poison was thinner than blood. Applying another hand to his head, she relieved his ache for the time being. Sakura grabbed a cloth and wiped it softly. This was a job, not a boy she had known for all her life.

He let her fuss over him in the way nurses do. Finally, she was finished.

"Why do you do this?"

"Because it's my job."

"I am not a job, I am a nuke nin, a criminal."

"I know," she said simply. "That's why if you're cured, then you're going straight to the council. If you die here, your body gets buried deep in the Forest. Your alias at the moment is Uragiri Tetsuya. No one knows where Uchiha Sasuke is. As far as anyone knows, you don't belong here."

Sasuke was silent.

"And the best part? I'm not going to heal you. Maybe yesterday I would've done it. But after you calling me weak, I think not. In fact, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to let an inexperienced medic in training heal you. She won't know anything and then you will suffer just as much as you have let me suffer all these years."

Sakura sat back with a smile. That felt good. That felt really good. Sasuke was still silent.

"Well?" Sakura said after a moment. "But, I could heal you. I don't want to, but I know my stupid conscience will bother me until you tell me otherwise, so what's your verdict, Uchiha?"

Silence.

"Sakura, will you please heal me?" The words came quietly through gritted teeth like it was the most painful thing Sasuke ever had to say.

Sakura just grinned, but not for the reasons you would think.

"Pick you up at nine. Be awake and ready."


	6. Chapter 6

**I have a very important announcement: Please read carefully.**

**I have come to a very big decision. I am going to quit writing this story because frankly I don't have time for it. I have problems with my family and financial reasons, school and just for the moment, life in general. Also last week my muse kidnapped my plot bunny who was last seen resting happily with a lemon in his cage.I hate how authors never finish off their work and abandon their stories, but I understand. that is why I have decided for someone to take over this story.**

**If you are interested please PM me.**

**This chapter is not complete, but I decided to post it anyway, for a lead/inspiration for the following author. **

**I hope you all understand, and I am very sorry.**

* * *

Chapter 6:

The night was dark, the wind howled through the trees and the sound muffled by the double glazed windows. He was ready. He had been ready for the last thirty minutes. Sasuke did not do late, he was punctual, strict and was always on time. Unlike the particular someone he was waiting for.

The door finally opened and Sakura appeared with a small bag filled with files, papers and heavy books.

"Let's go." She said breathlessly. He stood up and walked to the door a spare shirt and weapon bag in hand.

"Where are you going?" She questioned. She grinned. "Who said we were leaving out the front door?"

The wind filled the room for one split second before two ninjas disappeared without a trace.

The curtains billowed then all was still, as if no one had ever stepped foot in the room for the last week,

-

-

The journey to her house was quick and silent. If Sasuke was in pain he did not let on. Stubborn male pride. Her window was unlatched as always to let her come and go easy as she pleased. Letting themselves in, she shut it and flicked on the lights. She blushed lightly when she saw her bra draped on her chair and the scattered books and papers all over her floor. Sasuke stood, stance light and apart, waiting for her, with a light scowl on his face.

"Here." She opened a door along the corridor. "Your room for the time being." It was small and there was a window over looking the rooftops of Konoha. The bed was low but it didn't matter. It was still somewhere to stay.

"I'm having dinner in an hour, come down if you want to eat with me, otherwise there is food in the fridge. By the way, I'm not cooking for you at all."

"Hn." That was all Sasuke said, barely opening his mouth, as he put his weapon bag on the windowsill. Sakura left the room and headed into the living room which also served as her office, which was also her kitchen and her dining room. In other words, her apartment was small.

Her routine was simple, she did what she pleased, If her work wasn't finished then she had no supper till it was. It could be as late as four in the morning it could be as early as seven at night. But that was rare now. Sakura sighed and ran a hand through her hair and she stretched leisurely. Pulling her bag towards her she set about arranging piles of medical books and reports to be completed.

Her head snapped up from the table as a rustle of clothing disturbed the silence. A kunai was already in her hand.

"Oh it's you." She sheathed the kunai and stood up. Sasuke had slinked into the dining room.

"I suppose you want supper." He said nothing. But Sakura knew it was a yes.

Wandering over to the fridge she took out cooking materials and rummaged around for a pan, humming as she did so. Sasuke just watched, leaning against the wall. He didn't feel awkward, nor did he feel the urge to help her in any way. Sakura let the water run over the vegetables, rinsing them clear of lingering dirt. She leant against the counter and tied her hair up, she cut her eyes over to Sasuke.

His hair was definitely shorter than the lass six years ago. She won't deny, she saw exactly what made her fall for the stoic Uchiha to begin with. The pre adolescent muscles had really developed but it wasn't to the point he was some body builder, but when ever the slightest movement was made, muscle rippled and stretched tantalizingly, bragging of power and strength. His eyes remained as blank as ever, endless hardened black jewels. She gave a half grin and turned to the counter, twisting the tap to turn off the flow of crystal cold water.

Dinner was served fifteen minutes later and barely a word was passed. Sakura just piled the books and papers on top of each other and set down the plates she had balanced on her arms on the barely cleared space on the table. Sasuke said nothing and did nothing and it was only till she sat down and pulled the nearest plate of vegetables toward her did he sit down finally in the chair opposite her. It was a silent affair. Sasuke barely said anything, which is to say he said nothing at all, Sakura didn't even attempt to make conversation. Five minutes later, he was finished, carrying the dishes into the kitchen dumped them into the sink. Sakura rolled her eyes as the back of his shirt disappeared around a dark corner. She put down her fork and finally let her smile slip off her face. She was confused and conflicted. He seemed different yet the same stoic Uchiha had sat in front of her. She felt those embers of emotion stoke themselves up a bit. She picked up her fork and dismissed the feelings as lack of sleep and stress.

But she knew better.

She just didn't want to admit it.

-

-

Sleep was a restless affair and knowing that Sasuke was sleeping in the room right next to her made heart flop and twist in the most painful way ever.

She couldn't describe it. A sense of nostalgia, loss and maybe a bit of loneliness. He was back. How many times had she replayed the time when he came back to Konoha? Too many times to count, too many different scenarios and none of them had her prepared for this one. She thought she would cry, scream, plead for his hand in marriage, but nothing like this nonchalant emptiness.

She sat up and threw the covers off. Standing up she yawned and padded downstairs. Might as well work if she wasn't going to do anything.

TO BE CONTINUED?

* * *

**A very big thank you to:**

**KinkyK for being there with support. I need to talk to you before I go back okay? I feel awful.**

**And:**

**Kisa Kisa Yum Yum for being my faithful beta. Always correcting and getting back to me asap :) was very much appreciated.**

**And don't forget to PM if you would like to continue this story. I shall get back to you with details. :)**

**Yours truly,**

**Terrified of Logic**


	7. Chapter 8

**Withered Black Flower:**

By:**Terrified of Logic**  
Beta-ed by the ama-_zing_ **Kisa Kisa Yum Yum**  
With help from the awesome **KinkyK and JazzyJ**

Dedication: To everyone who reads and supports this story

**

* * *

**

She sat down at the table, piled up with thick books and papers at one end. Books that looked impossible to read, thick, musty and heavy, and, most of all, boring. But to Sakura, it was a source of knowledge and a treasure which, if used and applied properly, could be exploited. The candle flickered, casting orange and black shadows against the wall. Sakura scribbled down some notes and drank some tea, not necessarily in that order. After two hours without looking up she slowly sat back in her chair, rotating her neck and getting the stiffness out. Her hand ached but she didn't care. It was a small price to pay. The sky was still infinitely black. Even the stars were swallowed up by the inky horizon. The window opposite was almost mirror-like, for it reflected her and the room quite clearly.

She stared into the window, staring at her reflection in the glass. Time passed, but she still didn't move her eyes or body. She fell into a reverie, full of thought and musings.

The candle flickered, and in that second she saw Sasuke standing behind her raising his katana. As the sword glinted in the light, she saw it was an illusion and was startled. She chided herself lightly, cursing her lack of constant vigilance, which she usually maintained to perfection. In fact, it was harder to drop her guard than to keep it up. Freedom was not an option anymore. At least not in Konoha.

She clenched her fists and breathed in, then, exhaling silently, let the breath she was holding trail out of her partly opened lips. She looked down at her work, and once again her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Pulling one of those heavy, musty books toward her, she scanned the index, and once again her head was bowed over her work until dawn crept over the horizon, staining the sky with lines of magnificent oranges and reds. At last she closed the lexicon, with her notes sandwiched between them to act as a bookmark. It was early in the morning, around five, but this was the time when most of the ninja of Konoha got up to start their training or missions. The citizens of Konoha slept on peacefully, while the shinobi trained to maintain that peace. Well, that was before war broke out. Before _he_ came back. Villagers no longer slept peacefully at night, most kept watch over their house or children by torches, shinobi were all awake and the ones in training took shifts. There was no time for training now, only to survive and protect.

Sakura set about making coffee, not caring how many spoonfuls of ground up coffee went into her worn and chipped red mug. The scent of coffee beans reached her nose and she inhaled delicately. She closed her eyes and almost fell asleep on the spot. She fought back the feeling. She could get through another day and survive. How long ago was it when she had taken living for granted? How long ago was it when she had taken Team Seven for granted? Too long. It probably wasn't even true, reality and illusion had simply turned her world upside down.

She thought about her lodger upstairs, about how well he was sleeping. She growled. She should have never taken him in. Then again, how could she leave a person in need? It just wasn't in her to do such a thing. It was murder in her opinion, to knowingly leave someone to die. Her eyes unconsciously slid to the pile of books and notes she had studiously worked on for almost a month now. She felt guilty. How could she still have not found an antidote to Tsunade sama's wounds? Her shishou…her shishou… Sakura felt like crying, but she would not let her mentor down. She would prove to her that she was a capable shinobi, and prove she could find the antidote.

She leaned back against the counter and sighed. She sipped at the flavorless coffee. There was a time when she had grimaced at the weak, cheap coffee flavored hot water, but now she tasted nothing. It was just a simple jolt of caffeine to get her through the day, keeping sleep at bay. Just the way she used to cry every night after he left, but now she was used to it. She didn't cry anymore because she was a big girl. She checked her diary for the day, flipping through it with one hand. The usual, see Tsunade later that afternoon, hospital records and paperwork. Seeing as most medic-nins were on call for missions, she decided to spend the day at the hospital checking up on people.

She felt a presence behind her, and instantly a kunai twirled in her hand.

"So, you're up."

"Hn."

"Took your time, didn't you?" She turned around to face him at last. He just stood there, no expression whatsoever, displaying no emotion. He still said nothing.

"Why did you come back?"

"To destroy Konoha," he said simply, eyes meeting hers with no difficulty.

She looked at him. Then really looked at him. And this is what she saw. A man who had never been a child. A man who knew nothing of compassion and sympathy. Whose lips barely smiled, a boy she no longer knew, or had she even known him to begin with? Sakura mused. She liked to think she knew him best next to Naruto, but obviously not. She saw a man hell bent on getting revenge. Itachi had died, but Sakura didn't know the full story. It would seem killing one person was not enough for this…man. He intended to kill hundreds, and Sakura would not allow that. Even if that proprietor was an ex teammate, friend, crush, person she knew.

"You're a bastard," she said simply. It was an open-ended phrase. A phrase she meant for everything. The days he rejected her, the days he belittled her, that day he left her standing alone, that day Naruto came back wounded and was in the intense care unit for fifteen months, that day he almost killed her, the day his declaration of war arrived in Konoha and mostly, the day he came back in flesh.

"I merely fight for what's right," he said plainly.

"And what is right?" Sakura hissed, eyes narrowed. She was seriously losing her cool, just even talking to him. Why she couldn't she talk to him for two bloody minutes without feeling like crying? She had dreamed of this confrontation for years. Asking him why. Why did he leave? Why did he fatally wound his so called 'best friend'? It was all such a mystery…from one mysterious person.

"You wouldn't understand. You haven't grown up at all, have you?" Sasuke said, looking right into her eyes.

Sakura felt her fury grow. Ex teammate or not she was going to make sure he wouldn't be able to walk straight for weeks. Long gone were the days where she would apologize for not understanding, for not being enough for him, the days when she would just take his insults and chides. She _had_ grown up, and she would just show him how much she had grown.

Twisting her gloves on, she growled. Yes, she was a shinobi, able to use chakra much to her advantage, manipulating it and bending it to her will, but now she would fight him like a human, a mortal. She would land a blow that he would feel worse than chakra. She cocked her fist and let fly. She was quick, alright. Much more advanced than she was when she was twelve. But Sasuke was faster. Every blow that she landed, he blocked with ease and grace. For every blow that was blocked, her anger fueled another punch, harder and stronger than the next. Now if only the punches would actually reach their destination…

He caught her fist in his hand, and pushed her toward the counter.

"Stop." One word and that was it.

He was so close, closer than he had ever been in a long time.

"I…" Her breath was caught in her throat. There was no place to escape. He had her other hand pinned to the counter, and the other in his hand. He dragged it to her side, but never let go of her wrist.

"Just stop. Because you'll never win." She glared at him. If looks could kill. She squirmed under his grasp, but her slender wrists were handcuffed easily within his big hands, which had grown so much…

"Sasuke kun…please."

"You still call me that?" he said, smirking.

"N-no…I.. it just…" She blushed. She hadn't meant to call him that. She hadn't called him that in awhile.

Sasuke sighed and bowed his head. He was so close and she could feel his hair brush against neck, his breath hot on her skin.

"Sasuke…kun."

Her hands were no longer restrained, because his large ones had settled on her waist.

Vulnerable. Weak. Again. Forever.

_You're so stupid._

_I'm sorry._

_You're so annoying._

_I'm sorry._

_Please don't go. I don't want you to go._

_Please, don't go._

_You don't understand._

She closed her eyes, letting her hands rest on his neck.

_I have missed you._

She opened her eyes slowly. The room was still and it was still dark. She lifted her head from the book she had been working on. It was still three twenty in the morning and the house was silent. Sakura shook herself. What a vivid dream. She hadn't felt anything that real in a long time. She stretched her arms, feeling her shirt ride up on her stomach. Rubbing it thoughtfully, she pulled her shirt down and rotated her neck. God she was tired.

She had done enough work for tonight. Locking her front door, she set out for Naruto's house. She didn't forget Sasuke. She was just so tired of him. Tired and confused. Although she knew his hands on her waist were not real, nor were the lips that grazed her neck, she couldn't help but shiver delicately.

The moon was hidden behind clouds tonight, the silhouette of the trees blacker, outlined faintly. She didn't teleport, she took the normal route, by foot, to his house. Pulling her jumper a little closer around her body, she smiled. Why she was smiling she had no idea. But it felt like the right thing to do. Wandering around a destroyed, ruined village at night at three in the morning, of course, the most natural thing was to smile.

Finding the key under the welcome mat, she fitted it in the lock and let herself in. The hall light flickered in it's warm glow. Sakura stood still in the warmth and glow of Naruto's house. It had such a unique smell, like ramen and cologne and home. It smelled like home. How many nights had she spent lying on his sofa, using his lap as a cushion, reading a magazine while he sat watching some chick flick with his hand behind his head? How many nights did she sit curled, crying on his bed, while he fed her chocolate and wrapped her in his blanket, promising her that he would bring him home. That he wouldn't fail the next time. She owed Naruto.

Long ago were the days where she chastised and preached to him when she thought she knew better. When she thought he was such a cocky idiot who knew nothing. But countless missions proved to her countless times how wise and knowledgeable her teammate actually was. She stopped hitting him and yelling at him long ago. Now she yelled at him just to tease him and live in the past a little. He accepted her rants with a smile, because he always knew she didn't mean it, had grown up, matured so much since the time they were Team Seven.

Making her way through his hallway, she noticed light pooling onto the floor and she followed it till she reached his living room.

"Naruto?"

"Oh! Sakura chan I didn't expect to see you tonight," Naruto said, waving to her from his seat on the couch. "Late is a bit of an understatement, no?" He chuckled lightly.

"Shut up, baka." She giggled and pulled a blanket over her.

"Tea?"

"Yes please, with the usual amount of sugar and milk, thanks!" She called as he disappeared through a dark doorway.

Sakura looked around. Porn magazines, clothes and empty cartons of instant noodles lay scattered on the floor. There was a mug of cold coffee on the table and his orange jumpsuit was hanging by the window in a desperate attempt to dry itself. The living room was small, but it was perfect. The TV was on silent and showed some kind of chat show which she paid no attention to. Her eyes settled on a shelf and she smiled to herself. There was the famous picture of Team Seven. She didn't have to pick it up to know exactly what was in it. There were only four copies of it, each for Kakashi, Naruto, herself and Sasuke, although what Sasuke did with his copy she would never know.

She looked at the scowling Sasuke and wondered, did she know back then he would become a dangerous portal of power and energy that would destroy her and her home? Did Sasuke know that he would almost kill Naruto? The Naruto in the picture, ever competing against Sasuke, was frowning at the raven haired boy. Did Naruto know that Sasuke would hurt them and Konoha? Then she looked at herself, a smiling twelve year old, happy to be a part of her team, to benefit the others, to help and support. To be part of a family...

Her musings were interrupted.

"Here you go, careful, it's hot," Naruto said as he placed a mug next to her.

"I know, and thanks," Sakura replied, accepting the tea and taking a sip, letting the warm drink heat her up inside and out.

"I know _you _know. But _I_ didn't." Naruto scowled as he sucked his swollen, bright red thumb, an obvious burn.

Sakura laughed. "You're such an idiot. Come here."

Naruto pulled a face at her, before winking at her cheekily and sticking his tongue out. He sat down beside her, watching as she healed his thumb in a matter of seconds.

"You know, I'll never know how you medic-nins do that..." he said, inspecting his thumb.

"Basically, you have to concentrate your chakra-"

"I don't get it..." Naruto complained.

"...Never mind. Basically, it's magic," Sakura said, sipping her tea, peering at him over the rim of her mug.

"Naruto?" she said after a moment.

"Yes?"

She set her mug down on the table and tucked a piece of pink hair behind her ears before continuing.

"You know how Sasuke is back and he's staying at my house? I had a dream about him and now I'm not sure I want...I mean...I don't really know. It's kind of strange having him back after so long, don't you think?" she said hesitantly not meeting his eyes.

"I know...I understand. But we have to help him. He is our a friend after all. We must not forsake him."

"Thing is, I can't help but feel that he wouldn't do the same for us, you know if we were hurt and in trouble...I have a feeling he would just leave us to-"

"But we're not Sasuke, are we?" Naruto interrupted.

Sakura was silent for a moment.

"No, we're not," she answered finally.

* * *

Sasuke sat on the edge of his window sill, looking out at the village, just like he had been doing ever since he retired upstairs after dinner. The sky was inky and showed hints of turning to day very soon, but not for at least another hour or so. His eye betrayed nothing. Even by himself he couldn't drop his guard. Sasuke and Sakura were a lot more similar than they would like to admit.

His fingers found the wound where the two Kusa twins had gotten him His eyes narrowed, ashamed to have lost and been beaten by a pair of Kusa shinobi. It was embarrassing enough that they were girls, but Kusa shinobi? What had happened to him? Whatever it was, it wasn't going to happen again. Sasuke was feared in more than six different villages, had a bounty of over 1000 ryo in five different villages and was wanted dead or alive in three.

Konoha.

It had changed greatly. Not just because of the rubble and ruins. He eyed the charred wood and scattered stones that once paved the village, as if they were ants crossing a log, with polite interest.

He had once walked this road without people staring at him, throwing insults at him, not that he cared. It was just another change.

The sky was turning blue and indigo at the very edge of the horizon. He leant his head against the window sill.

Sasuke thought of Sakura and Naruto. Indifference. Their bonds he had cut long ago to become stronger.

He would not let those bonds recreate themselves to make him weak again. He would never be weak again.

Sasuke looked around at his room. He noticed a drawer that had been half opened. Sitting on his bed, he opened the drawer and his hand stilled. He pulled out a picture frame with four very familiar people in it. Lightly rubbing off some of the dust that had collected on the glass, he held the frame in both hands. His eyes roved over the picture, seeing but not seeing. Thinking like a blur.

His eyes noticed where he should have been there was a great rip instead, but it had been scotch-taped back together. He imagined that Sakura had ripped him out of the picture after he had left her on the bench, but later had fixed the picture. Unable to look at it any longer for personal reasons, she had stuffed it in the drawer and it had lay forgotten for a few years accumulating dust.

His eyes lingered on the Sakura as a young girl. He had seen her earlier today but now comparing her to her younger self in this photograph, he could clearly see the differences in how much she had grown up. The young curves in her face had disappeared and left her with defined cheek bones and a chin. Her smiling eyes had been replaced with paranoia and worry that reached deep into her eyes. Her once light green eyes had taken a darker shade that flashed dangerously when she was angry. And what a temper she had. Her warm mouth that always smiled whenever she had seen him was now almost in a perpetual line, hard and used to shouting directions and advice. Her body, he couldn't help but notice, had grown up, her legs shapely and toned from all that training, and with a trim waist.

He frowned. He didn't like where his train of thought was going. He took the frame and placed it face down back in it's drawer where he had found it.

He heard the front door click shut quietly downstairs and the scraping of a chair as it was pulled backwards. He looked at the time. Six thirty. He opened his door for the first time in eight hours and made his way downstairs.

Time to start a new day.

* * *

**Many thanks to Kisa Kisa Yum Yum for the beta :) especially to get done on my birthday... she really shouldnt have especially after me being mean to her (sorry Kisaaaa =) )**

**Yes its my birthdayyyyy and my mom got cross with me AGAIN...gah... ah well, please enjoy the chapter :) KinkyK and JazzyJ...just felt like syaing your name :)  
**

**Lol,  
Terrified of Logic/ TroublesomeGirl  
**


	8. Chapter 9

**Withered Black Flower:**

By:**Terrified of Logic**  
Beta-ed by the ama-_zing_ **Kisa Kisa Yum Yum**  
With help from the awesome **KinkyK and JazzyJ**

Dedication: To everyone who reads and supports this story

**

* * *

**

A song bird landed on the window sill, Sakura looked up and smiled briefly before scribbling some more. She sat by Tsunade's bedside table, writing. Tsunade's eyes were closed, her breathing fairly regular. As Sakura sometimes looked up for her work, she saw some expressions flit across the smooth face of her mentor.

"Ah, Tsunade sama, I will find the antidote, and soon you will be better. The sun shines today, despite the fact that Konoha is in ruins. The war waged against Konoha is at a standstill for their leader has been injured, but I know the war won't be still for long. We will rebuild Konoha and make you proud." Sakura said, even though Tsunade could not hear her. Sakura shredded a corner of her note absentmindedly.

"Shall I tell you a secret, Tsunade sama?" She said now, talking more to herself than anything.

"Uchiha Sasuke is in my custody. My care now. He has been poisoned. I don't really know why I took him in, but I feel I would have regretted it if I left him today. I know, not the shinobi way and 'let go of your feelings'… he's in my house, sleeping. That traitor. You know I wish…" Sakura trailed off mumbling. Her pen rolled off the table and fell on to the floor with a clatter, to which she suddenly rose from her daydream.

"Oh god. What am I doing? Slacking on the job…" Sakura bent her head once more immersed in _Healing Herbs and Potions_ taking down notes about the different plants and properties.

"Good morning Sakura chan!" Naruto waltzed in. Sakura raised an eyebrow at Naruto's overly chipper attitude as Donguri trailed in behind him, smiling at her.

"Doughnuts for breakfast anyone? With _fresh_ coffee." Naruto said with exaggerated ecstasy on the word 'fresh'.

"No thanks Naruto, I had some this morning."

"But your coffee tastes like…shit." Naruto whined pulling at his hair in mock horror and despair. "It tastes like brown water and-"

"There is nothing wrong with my coffee!" Sakura interrupted hotly turning a bit pink, not really understanding the reason why she was defending her coffee, it was just coffee for Christ sakes.

"Sakura chan, Naruto and I specially picked out some doughnuts and coffee for you, because we thought you would be working late. Perhaps you could have at least one?" Donguri said with a little hope, offering the bag to her.

"Oh alright then." Sakura gave in with a little grunt and sigh, but was secretly happy that someone was thinking about her this early in the morning. The bag was warm, it was truly fresh doughnut and coffee. She could smell the tantalizing baked goods with sprinkled sugar.

"Alright, but if I have one then you guys have to join me." She said with a wide grin. Naruto pulled up two chairs and sat in one hastily.

"Feed me!"

Sakura did not miss the small twinkle in his eyes.

"Open up then." Sakura said, breaking off a piece of doughnut and placing it in his mouth. Suddenly she felt hot coffee trickle down her leg. She winced and held in a gasp.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Donguri apologized profusely, bright red as she mopped up the coffee. Sakura bent down, grabbing a towel along the way.

"No problem, happens to everyone a this time in the morning eh?"

"But what will we do with no coffee?" Donguri asked, ashamed she had wasted their morning nourishment.

"Well, you can always come over and have some of mine." Sakura offered innocently.

* * *

Sitting on the bench in the park with Naruto and Donguri, Sakura asked,

"Where is Kinomi and Manryou? I haven't seen them for awhile."

"Well," Donguri said taking a mouthful of onigiri and swallowing, " Manryou got a message that he needed to get back to Kusa, but I don't think it's particularly urgent. Kinomi, well she's been in a fussy mood lately, fussier than normal, so I've kind of been avoiding her."

"Is she alright?" Naruto asked concerned.

"Course. I wouldn't worry. It's just Kinomi." Donguri shook her hair flippantly.

"I need to go, sorry for ditching, but I just remembered I left something at home. I'll see you later!" Sakura waved as she leapt on to the nearest roof.

"More time to spend with you then I guess." Naruto faced Donguri with an exaggerated look of adoration. She pushed him away and grinned.

"Baka."

* * *

Sakura arrived through her window as always. She took notice of the underwear's, bras and dirty clothes on the floor. She inwardly groaned; she hated laundry day. She gathered up her clothes and made her way down the stairs. She hadn't seen Sasuke so far. He was probably brooding and being an anti-social recluse in his bedroom. Not that she cared or anything. She snorted at the mere thought of him. Dumping her clothes in the washer she turned a dial and waited. She never left the laundry room even though it was too warm and cramped, because the last time she did that, she had forgotten she had done laundry and it had flooded, and apparently she put the soap in wrong because the bubbles and foam just wouldn't stop expanding across the entire room. She sighed. She really hated doing laundry.

Grabbing a book off the side of the shelf where she kept the detergent and powders, she sat on top of the humming machine and started to read.

It was a romantic story between a boy and a girl, a common chick flick styled book. It was an easy read, but it kept her captivated till the laundry was finished. She called it her 'laundry book' because she read it only when she did her laundry; therefore she had almost memorized it word for word. But doing laundry would not be the same without it.

A slight rustling put her on alert, she silently grabbed a kunai ready to slice anything that moved. Sasuke slid quietly into view.

"I think you dropped this." He held out a pair of small lacy, red underwear…more specifically a thong. Sakura blushed bright red. She coughed, hopping off the washing machine she strode over to him in two quick steps and snatched the offending garment from him.

"Thanks." She said shortly, unable to look him in the eye., she turned and placed it on the washing machine, hoping he would leave. But he didn't.

"What are you still doing here?" Sakura asked, voice calm and steady, but it had underlying tones, trembling slightly from the adrenaline rush she just had from embarrassment.

"I came to get my washing done."

Sakura stared at him.

"Yes, even I do my washing sometimes." Sasuke brushed past her.

"By the way, your laundry is finished." Sakura hurried over to the machine in haste to get her clothes without revealing any more unmentionables.

"And Sakura?" He drawled, whilst taking off his shirt and putting it in the machine.

"Yes?" She squeaked turning a shade of crimson.

"Nice red underwear."

He smirked.

She died.

* * *

Sakura busied herself spreading out clothes on the washing line, trying to keep herself from remembering and reliving the embarrassment Sasuke gave her. Another reason to curse him. He would have _never_, I repeat, _never_, have been this rude to her when they were genin. Although technically Sasuke was still a genin, she had no doubt that he had the skill of a jounin. She knew he wasn't a virgin, just by the way he talked, walked and breathed air like he owned the goddamn place.

But mostly it was confidence. Sure, he had confidence in ability when he was younger, but it had never been enough for his father. But now, he seemed more at ease with other people. Almost cocky and arrogant. He hadn't been so much as arrogant when he was little, just an over show of intelligence and strength that had surpassed his age group. But now everyone had caught up to him, he was going to get a big surprise when he faced his ex team members of Konoha.

The last item had been hung on the line and Sakura reached into the basket, she lifted up the pair of panties that had caused her great grief that afternoon and she blushed the same colour as them. Sasuke had seen her underpants. Oh _my_. Thank god, he hadn't seen her _in_ them. She considered throwing them away so she would never have to see them. But then, she decided to keep them. It was a present after all from Ino, a birthday present from long ago.

_"Happy birthday Sakura!" Ino said flinging her arms around her friend._

_"Thanks- thanks for organizing this party as well it's great!" Sakura said happily._

_"No problem. I couldn't have you organize it and make a fool of yourself _again_." Ino smiled cheekily._

_"Shut up." Sakura jostled her friend and nabbed a glass of champagne._

_"To our everlasting friendship."_

_"To friendship." The clinked glasses and drank the fizzy alcohol, under pulsing lights and heavy bass, in one of the best (expensive) clubs in Konoha._

_"Sakura, open my present. "Ino handed her a small box girft wrapped in sparkly black paper._

_"What is it? Is it some kind of expensive cream or something? Or weird glitter?"_

_"Just open it and see."_

_"INO!"_

_"What?"_

_"I can't wear this!"_

_"Why not?"_

_"It has-has-lace…red…roses…lace…"_

_"Now don't get your panties in a twist. Like my pun?"_

_"No."_

_"Aww, don't you like your present?"_

_"Well…I…"_

_"You can wear it for Sasuke…when he comes back."_

_"But what if he's not coming back?"_

_"He will."_

_"Why are you so confident?"_

_"Because, Konoha does not breed cowards."_

_"What do you mean."_

_" You'll find out soon."_

_"Thanks for the present, Ino."_

_"I'm glad you like it, hun."_

_"I never said I like it, Ino."_

_"Forehead. Stop being so stubborn and maybe your forehead wouldn't be so big."_

_"Shut up! Oh here comes Shikamaru- lets go dance. We are going to break the floor tonight._

And they did. For once, Sakura forgot about Sasuke, and her worries and her pain, and just focused on living in the moment.

Maybe she would wear those red lacy abominations after all. Sometime.

* * *

Naruto ambled down the road, taking his time, looking at flowers and kicking a stone along the way. He took a deep breath of air and closed his eyes, letting the oxygen flow through his body. He opened his eyes and the blue cerulean irises, glowed an even darker blue than normal.

Reaching his destination he let himself in, using the key wedged into a bush.

"Sakura chan!" He shouted through the doorway.

Upon hearing no reply, he walked in and shut the door, making his way down the hall and into the kitchen. It was empty. No problem, he would just wait in her kitchen. He made himself at home, helping himself to the cookies and milk from the fridge and settled into a chair at the breakfast table, reading the evening post.

Fifteen minutes passed and Naruto had finished all the cookies, the litre of milk and still no sign of Sakura. He wandered toward the fridge and looked through the contents, for something edible and tasty for an afternoon snack.

"Naruto." Sakura hummed into his ear.

Sakura saw it all on slow motion, the look of shock on Naruto's face that morphed into fear, the hairs that stood up on end on his nape and the inevitable; Naruto hitting his head on the inside of the fridge.

"Boo." She smiled and helped him up.

"Sakura, don't scare me like that." Naruto moaned rubbing his painfully sore head.

She ignored him.

"Well someone's finished all the cookies again. I'm not baking till next week as well, what a shame." Sakura examined her nails. Naruto's jaw hung open in horror.

"Y-you're not baking till next _week_?"

"Yes, because I literally baked two days ago. Next time, go easy on the cookies."

Naruto scowled. Just like someone else she once knew. She shook her head.

"Shall I make dinner then?"

"Yes please!" Naruto sat back in his chair at the table, waiting expectantly.

"Coffee while you're waiting?"

* * *

Sakura busied herself around her kitchen, chopping, searching and boiling all at the same time. She hummed an unfamiliar tune as she worked. Naruto's eyes softened as he watched her. She had grown up so much, and no matter how much stress or work pressure she was under, she always managed to cook him supper every other day. She was like the sister he never had, he would always protect her and make her happy.

"Naruto, no carrots right?" Sakura asked as she chopped up a few.

"No thanks." Naruto replied, craning his neck to see what she was making.

"What's for dinner?"

"Snips and snails and puppy dog tails." She deadpanned.

"No seriously." Naruto said making a face, at the prospect of eating a dog's tail.

"Beef stew with bread or rice of your choice."

Naruto salivated at the thought and nodded enthusiastically, hoping that Sakura wouldn't change her mind about the current menu.

She turned back to the stove, mixing, stirring and sampling, and finally she sat down at the table with the fire on low, the stew set to simmer.

"Naruto, shall we train tomorrow?" Sakura asked fingers laced together, thinking.

"Sure, why not? It's not as if I have any missions anyway." He laughed bitterly.

"You know, sometimes I miss Baa-chan sending me on D ranked missions just to piss me off. He laughed lightly.

"Is she any better?"

"No, she can't speak anymore, and she sleeps." Sakura's voice was steady, but her eyes betrayed her true sentiments.

"Sakura, she will get better, especially if she's being taken care by you. Truly." Naruto gave her a smile

"I promise."

"You shouldn't make promises like that, Naruto."

"I know."

She smiled briefly before suddenly remembering the stew on the stove. Quickly turning the heat down, she began ladling it out on to bowls with warm bread on a plate.

"Here you go Naruto, this is your, I took out most of the carrots before hand."

Naruto grinned and inhaled. The deep scent of rich warm food was almost sustenance in itself.

"Hold on a second."

"Can I eat yet?" Naruto grumbled, spoon raised to attack his food at any given notice.

"Let's eat together, please?"

"So sit down at the table." Naruto said watching her puzzled why she was walking toward the doorway.

"Sasuke! Come down for dinner!" Sakura yelled up the stairs. She turned to see Naruto staring at her.

"_He's_ eating dinner with _us_?" He gaped.

"Yeah? So?"

"Him? With us?"

"What's wrong with that? We used to have dinner together all the time. Or have you conveniently forgotten that?"

"Conveniently forgotten." Naruto grumbled quietly out of earshot.

"Anyway, I thought you were the one who was all for team bonding." Sakura said briskly, ignoring Naruto's last comment.

Sasuke padded into the kitchen at that point and promptly a well calculated piece of carrot flew past his ear.

Sasuke glared at the blonde at the table who was glaring with equal fire in his eyes.

Sakura sighed. Six years and both still had not changed, no matter how much they would deny it.

They were both stupidly male.


	9. Chapter 10

**Withered Black Flower:**

By:**Terrified of Logic**  
Beta-ed by the ama-_zing_ **Kisa Kisa Yum Yum**  
And now help and collabing with the awesome **KinkyK and JazzyJ**

* * *

The words on the page swam and blurred before her eyes. The fatigue from last night was catching up and her body was feeling the strenuous effects of it. Her head ached, her arms throbbed, she felt like collapsing from the lack of chakra and her mind was in turmoil from last night's events and stress from Naruto's and Sasuke's dinner. She knew she had to rest- revitalize, even for two hours, but the determination to find Tsunade's cure drove her stamina well beyond her limits.

Several hours ago, civilians were rushed into hospital for severe burns and broken bones. Apparently, the new Akatsuki also know as Team Taka had exploded several houses. It was cruel and malicious and not under the agreement terms in fighting war, besides the war was supposed to be on temporary cease-fire. Did the attack breach the agreement? Probably. Then she probably had to sort it out and write a formal letter to Team Taka re-declaring war.

But at the moment Konoha was not in a state to fight nor did it have the necessary weaponry and nin to assist the war. The little boy she had been operating on had had his arm amputated, in the process the last of the anesthetic had worn off. The operation had been complicated because of the way the arm had been burnt and twisted, taking far too long and by the time the boy had come to, the doctors including Sakura had still been operating on him. The pain was too much and the boy had started screaming; he soon died from shock.

It was the first time a patient had ever died at Sakura's hands. This was why she had been renowned for being the best medic-nin. After the last breath had been breathed there was a silence. An almost accusatory look passed around the operating table, what had happened? What went wrong this time? The moment was brief but it was enough for Sakura to feel nauseous and guilty. The medic-nins quickly carried the boy to the morgue while others cleaned up and tried to aid other patients affected by the explosions.

Sakura herself just stood at the operating table, staring at the place where the boy had lain, previously alive though in agony, she had seen blood before but it had never been this vivid. She hadn't known it to be this crimson. Failure. The words resonated in her head and a lump formed in her throat. Fighting it back she stifled a moan. Three years… she couldn't face _failure_.

Not when she had learnt so much and proved herself to be so able. Not when she had finally earned her recognition through scientific and medical breakthrough.

In fact, she hadn't failed since she was…twelve.

* * *

"Sakura," A soft voice prodded her in the side.

"Oh good, you're awake." Another voice said.

Sakura came to, slowing opening her eyes and looked at her visitors. A shock of orange clothing and brown hair made her focus slightly.

"Naruto, Donguri…what are you doing here?" She asked and winced, her throat was dry and it made her voice raspy. She sat up straighter and glared at Naruto.

"Naruto come here."

"Why-ow!" He winced and rubbed his arm where she had punched him.

"_That _was for your appalling behavior at dinner, there was absolutely no need for you to have 'accidently' spilt water on Sasuke's shirt _nor_," She continued emphatically as Naruto sniffed, "Nor was there any reason for you to have flicked peas at him _after_ you had eaten them."

At this point Donguri started to giggle behind her palm.

"He started it." Naruto mumbled petulantly.

"I don't care if he started it, you should be the mature adult and not lower yourself to his standards." Sakura crossed her arms.

"…Bah. Fine," throwing his arms into the air he exhaled, "anyway, the reason why we came to you is the Village is starting to become restless and the villagers are planning on rioting tonight. They say it's the shinobi's fault the Village was attacked and people injured. Also, Donguri and I have agreed that you're working too hard." Donguri nodded after this statement, eyebrows furrowing.

"Seriously Sakura chan, too much work is not good for your body. I know we're in the middle of warfare and Tsunade sama is lame, but you deserve some rest- and don't say you're fine," she said as she saw Sakura's head start to shake and open her mouth, "your eyes have this permanently tired look, you haven't changed in two days and you've written so many notes your right hand is twitching. Admit it Sakura, you're sleep deprived."

Sakura inhaled and closed her eyes, releasing the breath she held in.

"Let's just put it this way, if you're not in bed in an hour, I'm going to tie you to your bed. With _my _chakra infused ropes." he added with a wicked smile.

"…Fine." And this time it was Sakura's turn to throw her arms into the air. She picked up her bag and crouched on the window sill.

"Don't even try to sneak work away with you!" Naruto shouted after her as she disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Her desk had been miraculously cleared of all paperwork; Donguri met his eye and she shrugged her shoulders.

"She's impossible."

* * *

Sakura did indeed return home but she didn't go to sleep yet. Dropping her bag on the kitchen table she open the fridge and pulled out a beer, but she didn't open it. Condensation formed and ran down the sides, but even a cold can of beer did not tempt her to pause and drink it. Setting the can down she walked upstairs to her room and the door was miraculously open this time.

Standing in the shadows, she observed Sasuke sitting at the window, silent and absolutely still. He didn't seem like a man infected by poison or in fact, had any disabilities at all. She knew he could sense her, but he didn't say anything. She glared at him. Why did she let him in the house anyway? Why was she tending to him any how… she ignored the tiny voice in her head that had started to reason with her.

"You might as well just talk if you have something to say, instead of staring from the shadows." Sasuke spoke curtly from his seat.

Sakura narrowed her eyes further and without a sound spun on her heel and left the corridor.

The little voice in her head grew louder.

_The reason why you're so upset is because even after all these years, you still want his respect and admiration…I know I'm right. Don't even try to deny it…_

Sakura leant against the wall, legs barely supporting her body weight. Then abruptly slamming her head back in frustration, a sob escaped her lips. She rubbed furiously at her eyes. "Don't cry. Don't be a baby." She told herself off severely. "Don't you dare cry." She hissed quietly, eyes shut tight. But despite her words, tears rolled down her cheeks. Letting her legs give in, she slid down the wall and cradled her head loosely between knees, arms at her sides.

If anyone could see her now she was the ultimate picture of hope that had died, courage that had waned and strength that had deteriorated. In other words she had failed herself and she was weak. The very image she had sought to change and rectify.

She awoke to the sound of the evening bird's song. She sat up, the throw blanket falling around her. Putting on her shirt she yawned. The couch and living room had turned into her room temporarily. She needed to work. She had lost so many hours and needed to make up for it. Deciding to skip dinner she settled herself at the dining room table, strewn with books and papers. It was just as she had left it last night before the crisis.

The crisis… she refused to think about it. Thinking about it would be admitting that she had failed and that would not happen again.

Dragging a book toward her, she picked up where she had left off, _Poisons and Chemical Through the Ages_, chapter fifty-three.

* * *

"Sakura… oh Sakura." he said while trailing off. He was really hoping that she was taking a nap or something. He didn't think it was possible for someone to fall asleep in the position she was in and stay asleep. Her head was resting flat in the middle of some medical book he couldn't see. It was obvious she was over working herself again even after he told her to take a break. It was upsetting to see her this way. Falling asleep where ever she went, looking physically and mentally stressed, the new age lines that were now present on her face, and the constant dark cloud that seemed to loom over her.

Where was that smile, those sparkling fresh eyes, her shining hair, her laughter, everything. Where was the old Sakura? But more importantly, where the hell was Sasuke? They live in the same house together. He was positive that Sasuke had seen her in this position and he decided to just leave her there. Pfft, jerk. Naruto's anger quickly fueled and his eyes darted to the hall. He considered shouting Sasuke's name and making a big deal about it till he remembered Sakura was asleep.

He considered picking her up and moving her, usually when he woke her up, she got up and went back to stressing herself out with work she didn't need. While contemplating what to do with her, he didn't notice the other presence that had just entered the room.

"What are you doing here?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder with slight disgust evident on his face. "I came to check up on my friend and to see if she was getting rest. Obviously she isn't."

Sasuke tersely looked at Sakura. "She's asleep isn't she? That's called resting, idiot."

"She's asleep face down in a book. That's not resting. Why didn't you move her or something?"

"I wasn't aware that I was her baby sitter." he mumbled while reaching for a cup in the kitchen.

His left eye began to twitch and his fist started to ball. "You aren't the baby sitter, but she's definitely baby sitting you against her will. The least you can do is actually give a damn about her."

Sasuke didn't bother to face him. He just continued to make tea and disregarded the blonde like he usually did.

Naruto rolled his eyes and went back to focusing on Sakura. He ignored the fact that she would wake up in his arms as he carried her back to her room. He slowly moved the book from underneath her head and was able to maneuver her into his arms without causing to stir as much as he thought. She snuggled closer into his arms and he tried not to chuckle. She was really worn out.

* * *

She woke up to pain and noise. Her head was pounding, her neck had a kink in it, and she heard shouting. It took Sakura a moment to gather her surroundings. She was in her bed, wearing the clothes from yesterday and her body felt horrible. Her eyes drifted over to the clock on her night stand. It was twelve in the afternoon. What was she doing in bed at time like this? She had work to do.

That thought suddenly vanished when she heard the shouting again. It was obviously Naruto was in the middle of a heated argument with Sasuke, whose voice you could barely even hear over the curses and insults. What they were talking about was something she couldn't comprehend. Key words like jerk and Sakura were said especially loud. At least they weren't having a full out battle to the death. Shouting was fine since it was all she could handle.

She attempted to mumble something to herself, but instead nothing came out. Sakura ended up clearing her throat and going to get a cup of water from the bathroom to get her voice back. She quickly dismissed her appearance in the mirror and went out to face the boys. As soon as she stepped out, she was greeted by Naruto's lovely voice.

"You're just a fucking jerk!"

"Why do you keep telling me the same thing over and over? I think I would know this by now." he retorted while looking at the blonde.

His eyes narrowed. "I'm telling you, because you obviously can't get it through your head. You need to stop acting like one."

"You need to stop telling me what to do and get out this house." he shot back with a glare.

Sakura looked at both of them from the hallway and walked close enough to make her presence known. Both boys stopped their staring contest and looked at her. "Can I please know why the both of you are arguing now?"

"Sasuke's a jerk. That's all you need to know."

"Naruto's just finding petty, irrelevant things to make an argument."

She gaze drifted between the two of them and she shook her head. She was still too tired to shout and pound on Naruto. She still had that slight neck pain and she could feel the pounding in her head through her body. This was a time for words not violence. "Any how, Naruto what are you doing here?"

"I came to check up on you and to see if you were taking a break. I wasn't that shocked to find you face down in book at the dinning room table." he stated with a small grin.

Sakura looked at the table and saw her material spread out. When she woke up she thought she had fallen asleep in her bed, but was too tired to take her clothes off. "So you moved me to my bed?"

"Yup, I didn't want your body to be in any more pain than it already was."

"Thanks," she said with a smile, "is there anything I can do for you right now?"

He smiled. "Of course there is. Keep your ass in bed and work there. At least you won't fall asleep hunched over in a chair. And you don't have to worry about someone moving you to someplace more comfortable." he trailed off while looking at Sasuke. He in turn, rolled his eyes and left the room.

Sakura watch Sasuke retreat and sighed. "Fine, I'll take your advice, but first I need to go out into to town and do some shopping. I'm low on a couple things. Plus I need something to get rid of the pain in my body. I'm thinking chakra pills."

"Can I come along?"

She smiled. "What kind of trip to the store would it be without Naruto telling me what to buy."

* * *

She sighed to herself as she unloaded the groceries. With Naruto and herself combined they were able to get in and out pretty fast. Even with him constantly dragging her to buy junk, things he wanted, and random stuff that would obviously go to waste. He offered to help unload the stuff, but truthfully she just wanted peace and quiet. Her body still ached from her sleeping position earlier and she still wanted to work with her medical books. For her, she was wasting time by doing little things like shopping and hanging out. She wanted that antidote in her hands and fast. But to a poison that she had never even seen or heard about...it was a difficult task to make an imaginary antidote.

She shook her head clear of the thoughts and almost had a mini heart attack when she noticed Sasuke lying on the couch looking at her. She was so caught up in her own thoughts she didn't even notice him. He wasn't a ninja for nothing. Sakura occasionally forgot that he lived with her until she got home. He didn't cross her mind as much you think. He was an important and key figure at the moment in time, but at the same time, she was drowning in work and obligations that he seemed like an insignificant ant in a busy forest.

"Do you need anything?" she murmurmed after she broke their eye contact.

He looked at her a moment more before shaking his head, turning to look out the window.

She nodded and then looked at the kitchen clock. Three in the afternoon. She needed to start working on dinner by six, so she only had three hours to skim her books. Three was good, but she still wanted to check on her shishou. Even though she knew that as soon as she'd walk into that hospital, she'd have the urge to work herself to the bone.

Sakura looked up and saw Sasuke looking at her once more. "Came I help you with something?" she asked with slight annoyance. She hated being stared at, no matter who it was. He shrugged and looked back down at the magazine in his hands. She instantly got frustrated and went back to packing things in their rightful places. Every so often she would look up, and he would be looking. It was driving her insane. "Look Sasuke, either you have something to say or you don't. Why are you looking at me?"

He gave her a glance over before speaking. "You look really over worked."

Her eyebrows rose. Why would he care about how she looked? "I am if it wasn't obvious enough. Why do you care?"

"You asked why are you looking at me. I'm looking at you because I'm surprised you're still functioning properly."

"Functioning properly after what? No sleep or…." she trailed.

"After losing rest and your personal life over looking for an antidote for me."

Her slightly twitched. "Don't forget, this isn't just for you. Tsunade needs it just as much as you do, in fact she needs it more. Remember I'm only helping you because you asked nicely. If it wasn't for that, I honestly would help you at all." She turned around to start making tea in anger. Uchiha's and their huge ego's. When she turned around to reach for a cup, he was only a couple inches away. Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not in the mood Sasuke."

He looked down on her. "So are you saying, if it came down to it, and you had one antidote, you would choose Tsunade?"

She slightly tensed at the question, because in reality she didn't know the answer. Tsunade was her teacher and Hokage, Sasuke _was_ someone she loved and cared for deeply, a teammate, and Naruto's best friend. Even if they weren't on good terms yet, he was still important. "As of right now, I couldn't choose," she said truthfully, "but you need to stay on my good side. Cause if you fuck up, Tsunade will definitely be chosen over you, no problem. Then you _definitely _won't be able to continue with your plans to destroy Konoha, could you? " Sakura finished with venom before shoving past the Uchiha towards her room.

Once she was in her room, the realization of what she said to Sasuke hit her like a truck. She was still tired and irritable and snapped on accident. A couple times she felt like she needed to go back and apologize, but it was Sasuke. He never apologized for anything he said or did to her and Naruto. He wasn't worth it. It would be a waste of breath and time.

She shrugged it off and after going through her nin-pack she withdrew two soldier pills and kept a chakra in her pocket. She winced and the dusty, almost musky taste of blood and swallowed the crushed remans of the pill. It was three forty, time for her to check on her teacher and get back as fast as possible to get to work. She wanted improvement in her studies, to be one step closer to the cure, instead of sitting there with papers of notes and dead ends. By the end of the night, she wanted to feel like she was doing something right and not wasting her time.

* * *

Sakura sat in the hospital cafeteria with a cup of steaming coffee and a blueberry muffin. She honestly didn't know why she grabbed it. It might have been just to take Tsunade off her mind. Her teacher was in the same state she always was, unmoving and unresponsive, the sight still upset her like the first time. Plus she fought the urge to stay and help out with the couple of patients that walked in. She needed to get back home, work on dinner, ignore Sasuke, and work on this cure. It never left her mind.

"What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay home." Naruto said while sitting down next to her.

She glanced at him and rolled her eyes. "Why are you even here? I'm sure you have a life."

"I do, but Kinomi dragged me to the hospital with her. She wanted to check up on someone."

Sakura nodded. "I thought Donguri said she was in a fussy mood."

He shrugged. "She didn't seem all that fussy when I saw her at Ichiraku and asked me to come with her."

"Maybe the two of them had a fight." she mumbled before reaching for her coffee.

He gave another shrug. "Maybe, you girls can fight about anything."

Sakura gave him a look out the corner of her eye. "So can you boys."

"Not true! Me and Sasuke would never have a fight over a girl or how one of us looks better than the other or about clothes and crap like that," he emphasized while tugging on clothes and pointing to his face, "plus are you gonna eat that muffin?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Take it Naruto. And boys can still fight about anything, just not the same things girls fight about."

"She has a point Naruto." Kinomi said as she came up from behind.

Naruto tried to swallow the muffin down, before replying. "Two girls against one guy, not fair in an argument."

The two girls gave each other a look. "Anyways," Kinomi started while sitting down, "how are you Sakura?"

"I'm good I guess. How about you?" she answered

She raised an eyebrow. "You guess? Well I've been better. I don't feel like going into it, but yeah." she finished with a small smile.

Sakura nodded. "I understand. Who'd you come to visit here?"

"An old friend, but enough about me. How's searching for the cure, living with Sasuke, and are you even getting enough rest? You look nice, but you still look physically tired."

Her pink eyebrows raised at her forwardness. "Well um, I haven't got much progress with finding the antidote. I'm still searching non stop and loosing rest over it."

"Definitely. I found her face down in a book earlier today." Naruto claimed with a small grin.

Sakura glared and Kinomi giggled. "Sasuke didn't move you?"

"Same thing I said to him! He's a jerk. I ended moving her myself." he said while smiling at the memory.

She sighed. "It's Sasuke, what do you expect. And living with him… is a little complicated, but doable for the time being. And no, I'm not really getting rest. I just can't stop thinking about finding the cure so I lose rest and stuff over it."

"Hm, thats believable. But do you even know what you're gonna do once you find the cure? Like are you gonna try to make more of it and keep it in the hospital just incase?" she asked with interest.

Sakura opened her mouth and stopped. She never really thought that far. She just thought about finding the cure, not patenting it and trying to make more. "I'm not sure exactly. I obviously thought of making enough so that I can cure my teacher, but I never thought about making more to save it."

Naruto's blue eyes widened. "Wait… you're not gonna cure Sasuke?"

"Huh, oh yeah, I forgot he was sick." she mumbled quickly before she reached for her coffee. Which wasn't a total lie. Sasuke looked and functioned fine. He didn't seem like him immune system was being slowly attacked from the inside.

Kinomi raised her eyebrows. "Is Sasuke even worth curing? I mean, I can tell he's a jerk, and he's done some fucked up stuff to you guys, and barely even gives a damn about the two of you. Is he worth it?" she finished while giving glances between the two of them.

Naruto and Sakura shared a look. The question obviously caught them off guard. Was Sasuke worth it? He obviously wasn't, but… they just couldn't do that to him. They were a team and shared memories, he still held a place in their hearts, but was he still worth it? Definitely not.

Sakura looked down at her watch. Five thirty. She needed to start dinner and begin on the journey of over working herself and losing sleep. She gave them both a small smile. "I'm sorry, but I have to go." She hurriedly grabbed her cup and the couple of books she grabbed from her office and quickly walked away.

Kinomi and Naruto made eye contact. "Do you think she doesn't wanna help him?"

He opened his mouth and replied slowly. "… I honestly don't know. I mean, she use to have feelings for him and everything."

"Well, since I'm a girl, and we know each other so well," she started with narrowed eyes at him, "I don't think she'll help him if he keeps acting like an arrogant jerk."

"Well yeah… It's just, I don't see her being that mean to not help him." he said with a slight sad tone of voice.

She nodded and reached for his piece of uneaten muffin. "True, but I don't see her helping him unless he changes how he acts to her."

Naruto scowled at her eating his muffin, but looked at Sakura retreating through the door. Maybe Kinomi was right. Maybe Sakura won't heal Sasuke. Maybe things won't end well for the former Team Seven.


End file.
